Our Week Without Thumbs
by hauntful yay
Summary: The Ministry official that is not a Ministry official has come in and cast the cursed Animagus spell... and one black wolf and very poisonous snake have been deemed The Boys Who Will Save Us All. Now, if they can only understand a wolf's Parseltongue...
1. Hello New World!

_Concentrate, Draco, concentrate._

Draco Malfoy closed his eyes briefly at the reminder, letting his fork settle to his plate and breathing in deeply once. Opening his eyes, he regained his calm. If this wasn't so stupid as to be almost funny, he would enjoy the ritual… however even needing to do it for such a reason was quite distressing.

_When in the world did my panic from lateness get so bad that I have to go through the calming ritual?!_

And there he was once more, panicking over nothing whatsoever and being forced to calm down _again _so his housemates didn't notice anything aloof. Under the table, Draco discreetly lifted up a hand and regarded it. It was trembling.

"Thank you, thank you!" boomed from the head table, and Draco was horrified as the food vanished from his plate. He hadn't had much time to eat to begin with, with him being late combined with the effects of not being able to wolf as the rabid Griffindors did _and_ the aftereffects of too much adrenaline, so Draco had barely had time to take a bite. Glancing sideways beneath his bangs, he saw Blaise smile sweetly at him, and he groaned inwardly as he saw his lack of breakfasting had been noticed. First rule of the Slytherins—make sure no one noticed anything, while noticing everything yourself. Unfortunately, the result of this sort of motto was that _everyone_ was constantly in the act of spying, even within their own House… and they really didn't need that, being how disliked they were in the grand scheme of Hogwarts. Draco looked at his still trembling hand and sighed inaudibly.

"Again, I thank you, students, for letting me stay here and cast my spell of protection on this wonderful castle and home! And of course your headmaster, Dumbledore, for even allowing such a thing!" The portly man guffawed as he turned to Dumbledore, who was still sitting and smiling serenely, and Dumbledore rose and shook his hand. The man seemed to be expecting applause, and Draco frowned at him in immediate dislike as a few students throughout the room tentatively began clapping.

"So," the man said, not even losing steam in the face of tired, Monday dreading students, "my name is Draconis Berenstein, and I'm a Ministry official here to help. My office number is and my credentials are…" Draco shut the man out as he began listing, but he couldn't shut out the surge of anger at the man's name. _Draconis?_ This ugly, fat little man was named _DRACO?!_ Glaring hatefully up at the head table, Draco gradually became aware of interrupting murmurings, and realized that most of the attention in the Great Hall, instead of on the loathsome man, was on him. He turned away from the "Ministry official" and widenened his glare onto all the students, making sure it lost none of its power.

Smirking lightly at the positive effect he was having, this effect being that everyone was looking very rapidly away, he turned to his table, ready to focus on his breakfast and ignore everyone in the Slytherin table, who were not actively whispering but rather actively watching. But regrettably, his breakfast was no longer there, and he scowled briefly, remembering the reason, and looking up to hear the man's last words.

"--Thus, thank you for all listening, and soon I shall cast the animagus spell that will enable you all to be safe from the Dark Arts and other such dangerous people and their wands."

Draco snorted in his head, but that was as far as he got as the man suddenly waved a wand hidden in his sleeve. Focusing on the previous words he had uttered, Draco's eyes suddenly grew wide. _The animagus spell…?_ Oh no, oh _no_-- Hogwarts' headmaster did _not_ have the power to cast such a spell on an army of uninformed students, and definitely not on himself, Draco Malfoy! Horrified, Draco rose quickly from his bench, the nervous trembling filling his whole body again as he prepared to address the headmaster. But it was too late, as a shower of dangerous-looking sparks suddenly erupted from the end of Berenstein's wand and shot off zinging out the doors and throughout the castle. Draco had the sudden feeling of shrinking, and he allowed himself one deep breath before all went dark.

…

Draco awoke from the transformation completely intact, and a flash of relief settled as he rotated quickly around his new body checking for injuries or missing limbs. Nothing was missing, he was full-bodied and fully capable of what he should be able to do. Coiling tightly around himself, Draco closed everything off except for his eyes, which were left balefully warning off everything awake around him, and concentrated on his situation.

First off—everyone here should be an animagus. That was easy enough, and despite the spell's contradictory nature, it seemed the Ministry official who was not actually a Ministry official had pulled off the spell according to what it should have performed. Much better than being splinched, Draco concluded with an almost-invisible shudder.

Secondly—he would not be able to control the Slytherins with this new situation. As a dangerous but small snake, he would be crushed at the slightest disapproving action, and neither money nor fame would help him here. _Poison?_ Draco evaluated thoughtfully. But no, that wouldn't work either… his poison would have less effect on the same animal he himself was. Who had ever heard of snakes mauling snakes in nature? There was obviously some kind of reasoning behind it.

Thirdly—he needed control, now. With the almost complete loss of his Slytherin reign, Draco would not have access to the information he needed, though for a time he could hold off his father by blaming him for not being previously informed. Nevertheless, even for himself he craved the power and control he was used to having, and he knew that without it Draco was going to be a very, very sorry snake.

Thus, what to do. The Slytherins were no longer accessible, as easily concluded by the subtle shifting of the massive Anaconda next to him, and this completely threw the social situation of Hogwarts into turmoil. A wave of panic briefly engulfed him at the direct thought, but Draco pushed it back with an angry inward shove. He had the advantage here—he had been forced into this spell before where he doubted any other had. He knew his capabilities. And in addition to that, this was a very valuable opportunity if he could use it correctly. Focusing his eyes again, which had begun a feared wandering with the previously terrifying thought—Draco snorted at himself—the concentration began again. This was just another exercise, another test to see if he could manipulate a situation to its utmost potential. And if it could be done, Draco would do it.

Testing the air, Draco uncoiled slowly, knowing that even if he didn't have a plan quite yet, staying here would ruin it before it existed. He had awakened earlier than most of the zoo in here, disregarding the blue-eyed owl above him who was currently floating on an invisible current and looking down curiously, and that meant he had yet another advantage. The advantage being, at this point, to get away from Zabini, who was the anaconda, and get his tail out of there before the Slytherin table discovered how tiny he was and decided to destroy him. Draco had aimed for power when he had owned the Slytherins, not friends, and he was sure to be benefited from if he stayed here.

Aiming opposite his table, Draco attempted a smirk on his snake face when he passed the Hufflepuff table. It didn't work all that well, he thought regretfully, but then again, there were always snake expressions. The only disappointment was that most humans didn't know snake expressions—a pity, that. Shaking himself abruptly, Draco told himself to concentrate._ How could he think about_ expressions _when he didn't even have a plan yet?_ Snapping, he passed the flock of birds without further ado and continued on to wherever his unconscious seemed to be taking him.

_Hm,_ Draco thought interestedly, gazing at the row of awakening monkeys, _Ravenclaws_. It wasn't like each table had a specified animal, but there seemed to a large portion of each House transformed a certain type. Draco quickly turned his head to what he could see of the Slytherin Table from this low vantage point. A lot were snakes, yes, and according to what Draco thought they were the true Slytherins, but there were quite a lot of other odd animals back there too. Turning away from the array of foxes, raccoons, mongooses, and even a panther, Draco set off again, slithering as rapidly as possible around and underneath tables.

_Ahah!_ Draco's mind declared, as he finally made it all the way across the Great Hall and was now present at the woefully uneducated Gryffindor table. Draco raised an internal eyebrow at himself and moved on. It seemed he wanted to be present at… _what the hell is a_ wolf _doing over here?!_

For indeed it was true. The Gryffindor side of the room was almost completely destroyed; possibly having something to do with the disturbing amount of elephants present, but even their huge bulk did not disguise the oddity of a completely black wolf present in the mess. There were horses and dogs—_oh yes, lots of dogs_—a few camels—_whaa?_—an otter, even a few hard-core lions in there—but there was only one wolf. And it stuck out like a sore thumb.

To Draco's somewhat bemused, but mostly aghast dismay, he seemed to be heading straight towards this completely black wolf. Draco was thus presented with quite a conundrum—should he follow the logical course, or should he follow his instincts? His father's voice quickly rung in his head—_Always have a plan, never act without reason_—but Draco's own experiences contradicted the statement just as strongly, filling him with a piqued sense of confusion. Draco had found that his instincts were often very good. Almost every mistake he had made had been a result of ignoring it, or cutting in with other emotions before it had finished doing what it did with him—the hippogriff situation, the Hermione-punching him situation, numerous issues with his mother… he winced at the implications. The _only_ situation where his instinct had failed him was that first day at Madam Malkin's, when he met Harry Potter. He had reached out to befriend him, as Draco had felt was exactly what he should have done, following what he felt, of course, and he had been rejected. Quite badly, in fact.

Nevertheless, thought Draco, ridding himself of these thoughts, he had punished Harry Potter in the end and it all worked out for the best anyway. He couldn't imagine what his father would have done if it _had_ worked out… but back to the present, he was almost attached to the dark wolf, and he had to make his choice here and now. Plan now, act later—_and possibly lose a valuable opportunity_—or act now, plan later, and possibly destroy himself. Draco flicked his tongue out again, an expression of which he didn't know the meaning but found himself using quite lot. The slightest of pauses, and then…

Nobody saw the black snake quickly slither up and under the thick fur of the rousing black wolf, and when bright green eyes opened a moment later, Harry Potter was far too busy being alarmed to notice the sliding of smooth scales weighing across his back.


	2. Golden Trio Reject

Harry got up groaning from the floor of what appeared to be the Great Hall. Looking blearily around him, he shrunk back from the sheer size of things and attempted to put his hands behind him. It didn't work.

After numerous blinking attempts to bend his elbows in a way they firmly refused to bend, Harry looked down—and yipped. Yipped? Sitting before him were two perfectly proportioned _paws--_ wild black fur outlining their distinctively animal shape. Harry jumped to his feet after that, sprawling majestically and feeling a heavy weight shift on his back. He ignored it, courtesy of the oddness of a new body, before more carefully placing each foot separately. He wobbled, and tentatively lifted up his—_groan_—tail.

_Great, I must look like freaking Bambi_, Harry grumbled in his head as he cautiously took two steps forward. _Not only did I magically transform into what appears to be an overgrown Sirius, I can't even walk properly._ Harry almost performed an eye roll—then got his first glance at the Great Hall.

Harry couldn't see much from this angle, but from what he could see the Gryffindor side was completely destroyed. He barked, leaping away from a herd of elephants looking dangerously unstable, and step by step the view began to clear. Hogwarts had been transformed into what seemed to be a zoo for disabled and mentally unstable animals of all shapes and sizes. Climbing jerkily onto a table, his blunt claws not being all that much help, he took a look at the room as a whole—and was amazed yet again.

Underneath each flying House banner was a parade of animals, and Harry smiled despite himself. Birds galore had taken to the air, reminding him of his own experience with the hundreds and hundreds of flying projectiles courtesy of the owl postal service. Looking down, he was pretty sure he saw McGonagall and a large array of cats sitting on the head table watching them. Wincing at what could only be Professor Snape, a vulture of massive proportions screeching the students down from the skies, he thought he spotted Dumbledore as well—as a snowy white owl with sparkling blue eyes looking on cheerfully. The fact that he didn't descend despite Snape's mad cawing added nicely to this conclusion.

Harry watched curiously as animals were dragging themselves to their feet unsteadily, and only then remembered Ron and Hermione. Spinning dangerously, he leapt down, wincing at the roll of fat that seemed content to settle on his shoulders and fly back with every move he made. _Ug, you'd think that whatever this Ministry spell was—wait. The_ Ministry's _spell?_

The slight panic that had been developing after he had noticed Ron and Hermione's absence flared right into sprint-hard adrenaline, shooting away the brief amusement like it was never there. "Hermione?" Harry called frantically. "Ron?"

His voice only emerged in a painful yowl, and Harry tried to focus, his brain churning steadily along to adjust to yet another new dangerous situation, new world. Okay, this time, he couldn't speak with anyone, and they were all in animal shape. Harry was in some kind of lookalike Sirius get-up, which meant that the shape was individual to each person.

Harry quenched the voice in his head that was hissing _no DUH_ and tried to think of magical moments when he had seen people transform into animals. Remus as a werewolf was definitely out—but wait! He was in a _Sirius _get-up--Animagus! This must be an animagus spell! Except he didn't know what Ron or Hermione's animagus shapes were— Harry squinted his eyes in frustration. The sheer amount of animals around him didn't allow individual investigation! Still, this was only the Gryffindor table—which made it all the harder. Harry squeezed his eyes shut only to open them again to stare cross-eyed at his new muzzle.

_Okay Harry. You've been in this situation more times that you can count. This time—no, this _year--_ their shapes are going to reflect their personalities—and Hermione's going to be the easiest to identify there. She likes knowledge. Thus, she's going to be something curious among all the brave and noble animals here._

Harry forced himself to do more than a casual sweep, and really looked at the animals nearest him. They'd been sitting together on the benches, so they couldn't be far away. There was a parrot… _no_… a horse… _ouch, and no_… a weasel… _huh, like Malfoy_… and ahah! Terrier being helped up by a bushy tailed, brown otter. Ron and Hermione! Harry bounced off the table happily, loping around them and sticking his muzzle in their faces.

_Slap!_

Harry instinctively jumped backwards, his hackles rising and ears flying back with a growl. Snarling, he shuddered when a sharp stinging erupted from the end of his muzzle. Harry whipped his head directly toward the two of them, helping each other up. Except Ron and Hermione were no longer helping each other up. The otter and terrier were erect, growling fiercely and both cowering slightly in the face of his greater bulk. _They—they couldn't be_ scared_ of him_, Harry thought doubtfully, only then realizing the picture he must make. Relaxing with an effort, Harry lowered his tail and slowly began inching closer. But when the dog shot forward and bit him hard, eyes fairly rolling with fear, Harry backed up again, flattening his ears unconsciously and growling before becoming horrified. _They—he—he was Harry! He wasn't going to hurt them! Ron, Hermione—it was him! Stop it, he didn't mean to--!_

Ron and Hermione cowered some more from the mad barking and yowling that was emerging from Harry's mouth, and they turned tail and _ran_ when Harry frantically leapt closer, gesturing to himself with his head. Desperate, Harry flew after them, quickly overtaking them. But then they vanished under the Ravenclaw table, and as much as Harry tried to fit his new body in, he could not. Left outside with only his head underneath the bench, he felt his tail tuck and he whined. _Ron?_ He whimpered. _Hermione?_

But the otter only glared at him hard behind the terrier's protective stance, and when the tail came flying towards him once again, Harry scrambled away. He still got slapped though, and left feeling stung in more than his muzzle.

…

"Rejected once again, Potter?" was hissed in his ear. Harry jumped, immediately assuming his rapidly accepted crouch. He checked his corner once again, but there was no one there. _Only him, him and his newfound desolation._ Harry fell to his stomach once again, looking dazed at the gradually organizing mess that was Hogwarts. _This Monday was going to be so nice, too…_

"Ah, feeling sorry for yourself. A very Gryffindor trait, if I do say so myself--" suddenly was hissed again, and Harry faintly glowed with newfound anger, throwing what he had first believed was a sliding bunch of fat. It remained sturdily on his back, and he growled deep in his throat.

"Whoever you are, get off, now." He issued, and was momentarily astounded when a faint "For you, your idiotic Gryffindor majesty," reached his ears and—something-- slid neatly off his back. He found himself cornered by the meter-long, pure black snake looking menacingly back at him, and he cowered faintly before remembering he was the bigger animal.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," the snake drawled sardonically, as Harry growled and crouched, mentally calculating the distance of the leap above the snake's waving head. "I spit, my dear Golden Trio reject, and I don't only spit, I spray venom."

And just like that, Harry was back to why he was hiding in a corner in the first place. Sagging at the combined reminder and threat, the anger he was holding on to all but evaporated. _How many times have I been in this kind of dangerous situation? How many times have I been abandoned to do it all on my own? _Harry fell on to his stomach, stilling at the sting he could still feel from the slap. Hermione—no, the otter, glaring at him balefully from over the dog's defensive position, Ron—no, not Ron, looking at him with determined but outright terror. Harry's stomach turned over and his head fell to his paws. That's what he was now, a Golden Trio reject. Harry's eyes were the only things opened now, gazing desolately at Malfoy. If a snake could look surprised, it did.

"You must be feeling lucky that you can understand me even as a cross-species," the snake declared after a brief silence, with a slightly unsure edge. "Still kept your Parseltongue even as a wolf. Though it's useless now," the snake announced with a sneer, apparently recovered from Harry's unexpected behavior. "because as a snake, I can understand snakes now. Your only good Slytherin quality—worthless now," Malfoy finished with a flourish.

"And you think that matters?" Harry answered blankly in reply, knowing he should care when the snake deflated slightly.

"Of course," the snake snapped back, raising itself haughtily. "Always in the spotlight, our Boy-Who-Lived, the Speaker of the Snakes. Now you're only a wolf, and an extremely ugly wolf at that—your eyes are disgusting in that state. Even you're scar's gone, hidden beneath all that horrid fur. And to top it off, your so called 'loyal' friends abandoned you. Oh, the loveliness of living life as a Gryffindor."

Harry almost smiled, his teeth emerging from his gums in a show that was utterly chilling in anything but a human. "Malfoy."

The snake's head immediately jolted to Harry's face. Stopping the gentle swaying it had begun during the rant, it glared, contemplating. Finally lifting himself up again, Malfoy fanned out in the distinctively cobra flare. "Yes?"

Harry smirked at the brevity of the reply, lifting his head arrogantly and flicking his ears sideways. "You finally managed to push the right wrong buttons. Stop stalking me."

"But I can't, your clueless highness and now my horrifically bad-insulting partner!" Malfoy shrieked, in a mockery of worried fright. Tossing his head to the ceiling in search of idiot-mocking deities, Malfoy continued on in a snarky, taunting tone. "Because you see, my dearest highness, while you were sulking, _I_ noticed something very particular! I can understand you, without such a cheat as Parseltongue, where others cannot. Thus, you are stuck with me, as your sole link to the outside world of popularity. Do you see any other wolves that you might talk to around here? I think not. More importantly, you seem not to have the slightest clue in how to operate previously mentioned wolf, so necessarily you need me. I, however, am stuck with you as well, as I need a communicative ride and discrete hiding place. This whole thing is mutually beneficial, you see. "

"When have you even been mutually beneficial, Malfoy?" Harry snapped, getting angry despite himself. He had just been rejected by the whole of his world, and the monstrosity that was Malfoy wants to _use _him so he didn't have to _slither_?! The attitude towards him, the animal shape, the outright cruelty and gesturing– it was so blatantly Malfoy that Harry was astonished he hadn't seen it earlier. Rising slowly to his feet, a glint appeared in expressive green eyes. "And I'm a dog, not a wolf," he threw back, just to further prove Malfoy wrong.

But Malfoy didn't take the first bait, being the type to only pay attention to the last of the sentences stated. Watching Malfoy posturing ridiculously, Harry just became more and more livid as the sheen of black before him began swaying in tune with a song of mockery only Malfoy knew the words to. "Of course you're a wolf, you idiot. What else did you thing you could be? With the gigantic fangs waving in front of Mudblood's and Weasel's face—what, you think they'd be scared of a _dog_? The Grim, the GRIM!" the snake sang melodramatically, adding even more swing to his half-foot off the floor waving. "Though, then again, they are Gryffindors," the snake finished, snapping his gaze back to the barely-controlled Harry "thus, I suppose they would be scared by a big, black dog…and of course, they might have become the slightest bit more terrified when your fellow snake began rising dutifully above your head as the embodiment of evil… " Malfoy finished, a cruel sneer evident in his hissing.

That was all Harry could take. "YOU DID _WHAT!_?" Harry roared, "_YOU—YOU—_" almost induced to incoherency, the rage was thundering so strongly in his bones, Harry could only scream "**DEATHEATER CHILD!**" before his body was moving on its own and the writhing black snake was pinned beneath him. Screaming his rage at this new world, this terrible, new, PREDICTED world, he almost missed the quiet hiss beneath him, the only subdued words he had heard today from the now still snake.

"Potter, I warned you not to."

And then he was jumping back as Malfoy reared and venom came streaming out of his mouth in an explosive spray. Scrambling madly for his wand with a paw, Harry howled and retreated, crouching and blinking green eyes as rapidly as he could. He saw the enemy, a long, purpled strand of black in a corner of black, and he drew upon the power that had always saved his life. One paw reached out, ready to cast and expel all the power he had inside through a wand that was emotionally and magically his-- but he encountered nothing.

Draco could never describe the depths of exhaustion that entered the black wolf's eyes then. When it was happening it was like a thunderbolt, so sudden and terrifying that he lost all the power of the breath of poison he was about to release. When he was older he recognized what made it so, the combination of desolation, resignation, expectance and exhaustion, all rolled together in one terrible glaze, just too much to bear. But Draco was never, never able to describe it to anyone, not even himself, not properly, and when Harry slumped and his head went back onto his front legs, Draco's body followed him without a thought.

They sat in silence for a long moment, then Draco, always the first, finally spoke.

"Potter."

No response.

"The world is not over because you lost an argument with me," Draco tried.

Still no response, though Harry's head twitched a little.

"I will breathe a puff of poison on you that will kill you before you can even blink."

Harry's head didn't even shift this time.

_Alright, that's enough_, Draco thought, annoyed that he cared. But his ride was right here, and it wasn't getting up. In addition to that, despite all his protests, Draco had meant what he said about needing Potter as a ride—he'd grow nowhere politically in his current body. Only the Slytherins would listen to a snake, and there were more venomous and greater than him present within them. And, as much as he hated to admit it—Draco had witty, cutting banter, but Potter had charm.

"Alright, don't answer me," Draco stated flatly, drawing himself up and snapping his tail imperiously. "But I'm going to answer you, because though your question was very badly phrased, I believe it needs to be addressed." Draco didn't even wait for an answer this time, though he did blow a bit on Potter with only the tiniest amount of venom. Potter started and Draco snapped his tail again. "To you, no, I am not a Deatheater's child, in the idea being that Father is a Deatheater. I don't know where you got that impression, but it needs to be set straight. In addition to that, your statement—excuse me, question—could be interpreted as I am a Deatheater, as a child. Impossible. I do expect more out of you, Potter. You of all people should know that no animals are evil, snakes included."

As Draco had somewhat hoped, the insinuations that Harry was being biased, among numerous others such as his father not being a Deatheater, roused Harry from his stupor. Draco happily received a glare, though as a snake it was easily to not outwardly show it.

"I didn't judge you because of your shape or even your House, Malfoy, I judged you because of your character. Now shut up and let me mourn the loss of my magic, friends, and life."

Now Draco would be having none of that. "Life can't be lost if you're still living, Potter," the snake said cheerfully, and the tone was so clear that even Harry heard it. "Now, what's say we go do a look around at our new home slash world slash life? I need to go curse my father for not warning me in advance."

Harry picked himself off slowly, placing each paw deliberately on the ground before settling himself and shaking his fur off slightly. He was surrounded by figurative devastation—but as even Malfoy had brought up, Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, had expectations placed upon him, so many expectations. And one of these obligations was that he'd get up from every situation, abandoned or hurt or even, as he occasionally received the hint, dead and fight it with his all and win. Even Malfoy—even Malfoy was expecting him to get up and help. How ironic, that one of the people who ruined his life wanted his help, and he had to give it so he could face all the other people who had ruined his life. _Not that it could be ruined, _Harry admonished himself, looking up at the familiar surrounding and not the inside of a cupboard. Even the stabbing pain of the betrayal of his friends—no, he'd experienced worse. It seemed Malfoy was right in the first experience of Harry's life—not that he'd needed Malfoy's help, obviously, to know that life could always be alright if he worked at it.

Draco was downright flabbergasted when Harry offered his back to him. He wasn't exactly offering it, persay… but Harry was not moving, having stationed himself just besides Malfoy, and it was sitting there, waiting for him. Despite all he had done—scared the Golden Leeches away, mentally dehabilitated Potter to the point where even Draco was pushing at his conscious, Draco's general I-HATE-YOU attitude for _years,_ combined with this last, hateful goading against someone who wasn't feeling so good in the first place_—_Harry was still going. Was following his _advice._ Knew that life wasn't over until you dropped. Offering himself to a potential enemy but a useful resource like a _Slytherin_. Draco's life was ending—people like this did not exist in this world—and he knew it. It was thus with great trepidation that Draco mounted Harry's back.

Fortunately for Draco, Harry had just pep-talked himself and was shining with optimism, meaning he started trotting off without a word to Draco or otherwise. This meant that Draco was being ignored, and being ignored was something Draco was _very _used to, and very much detested—resulting in Draco recovering himself in the space of approximately two seconds. He decided to place his head on one of Harry's ears, a fact Harry did not much like and after a brief twitching tussle it ended in words, Draco's specialty.

"Malfoy, stop it."

Draco just settled himself more comfortably on Harry's head.

"Golden Trio reject. You wish."

Harry snarled.

A/N--

Hello everyone! It's nice to see I have some readers… reviews are appreciated too! I'm hoping my writing will get better and better as this goes on—and comments on it (transitions are fluid/off, phrases are clear/unclear, ect) are _very _helpful to keeping me writing. Anyway, some notices on where I think this fic is going…

First off—this is planned slash. Albite very light slash, but it's going to be there.

Secondly—I edited a few key pieces of info in chapter 1, such as what kind of snake Draco is, so if you have time to look back feel free!

Thirdly—oh yes, and the characters aren't mine. I'm disclaiming—it's all, as we know, Rowling's. And Warner Bros too, if they're included. Thanks for reading!


	3. Talk, Talk, and Yet More Talk

After a brief scuffle, Harry and Draco were on their way to the head table. Actually, Harry had no idea where they were going, but he had a feeling that Draco would stop talking to himself and start yelling at him if they stopped. Thus, they were going to the head table, and as long as Harry kept on receiving information from the squawking that Malfoy was currently spitting out, all was good.

"So, the first issue is obviously going to be communication. Can't build a network without communication. However, it might not be possible to do this human communication thing—what with the issues Potter encountered with his friends, the teachers might have some inside plot going. Hm. In which case, we've always got animal communication. But—ug, that's an issue. We've got a totally black wolf with frighteningly unnatural green eyes and a venomous jet black snake. Physically, this is not good. Well, maybe if we keep it clean we can pass off as, like, noble black knights or something… except black knights are never noble. Shoot! And Potter, stop listening in, this is a private monologue!"

Harry flipped his ears forward again with amusement. _A private monologue, eh_… out loud and with Harry the only one who could understand him. Harry smirked inwardly—who knew what Malfoy was playing at, but it sure wasn't to keep Harry from listening.

"Thus—Potter!" Draco hissed at Harry's ears flipped back again, and wondered just how dumb Potter thought he was. His ears were more than a dead-givaway, and yet he continued to turn them back. Draco hissed thoughtfully, but was interrupted from the now inward musing about his partner as Harry spoke up.

"So, Malfoy… how long does this spell last?" Harry threw out as he took a gentle right. They'd reached the head table by this time, but Harry was hoping that if Malfoy didn't notice him wandering he'd at least get his answers before he got to throw the annoying git off. Malfoy really wasn't doing anything for him besides doing out-loud scheming… but Harry's head drooped as he remembered that Malfoy, by some curse of fate, was the only one who could understand him. So much for the abandonment idea.

"Steady," Draco hissed as the head he was resting on suddenly bobbed. "You throw me off, you get poisoned, remember? Plus you get to be all _alone_…" The head regained its previous altitude, and Draco settled back on again. "Hm… how long?" Draco said, now focusing his attention on the first question Potter had asked in a while. It was a valid inquiry, but telling him the flat answer might make Potter bolt. Then again, if he added some more information in with that, it would make him more dependant...

"Forever." Draco stated, gripping tighter as Harry suddenly stopped. "However," Draco spoke over Harry's voice, "it can be removed."

A whirlwind of thought was spinning through Harry's head, but the open ended question needed to be answered. Slightly annoyed at Malfoy for making him ask the obvious question before any others, Harry ignored the resentment and asked him anyway.

"Okay, Malfoy, how can it be removed?" he asked challengingly.

"That--" Malfoy said dramatically, and Harry could feel the snake's upper body rising to vertical, "is what I don't know!" he finished cheerfully, lying back down. Harry's blood began to boil.

"Malfoy, I need all the information you have, _now_." He heard, in a tone of steel.

Draco paused, thinking about it. However, at the warning quiver passing through underneath him, Draco decided that he would probably wait just a bit longer before arousing Potter's anger—it did not do to have him mad at him _all_ the time.

"Well," Draco began, flicking his tail lightly against Harry's flank, who stilled but then obediently began moving again after Draco stopped, "I suppose I could tell you what I know. The curse placed on us is the Animagus Spell. Unoriginal name, I know, but at least it's self-explanatory. Just in case it isn't, however," Harry narrowed his eyes, hearing the smirk in the tone, but continued forging on through and around the pairs of animals loping unsteadily around him, "I shall explain that too.

"The animagus form itself is a manifestation of a person's personality into the animal that most closely resembles his or her traits. Distinctive marking on the person may also be transferred to the animal, thus rending each animagus, even of the same type of animal, unique. That's where the green eyes on your black wolf came from—however, in animal form, it looks creepy rather than normal, so in your case you should probably resent the distinctive markings thing."

Harry growled, but didn't stop walking. He needed this information, no matter the manner in which it was presented.

"Anyway, for the workings of the animagus spell…it was invented for the use of scholars wishing to see their animagus shape before they actually were able to become animagus themselves. The drawback of such a spell is that without a close friend to utter the countercurse the person remains stuck in the animal shape forever. It is not known why it must be a friend, or even a close one at that, but the scholars know that it must be and that's all I really needed to know. The good thing is that even if this friend is also in animagus form, he or she can release the form of the other.

"The only problem with this," Draco went on, dropping the lecture tone but still speaking, "is that I don't know the countercurse. I know the ray of light is blue….but that doesn't really help me much. In addition to that, the spell is cast on each individual person, not on a specific area, so escape from the castle won't affect our forms at all.

HOWEVER--" Draco pushed out as Harry opened his mouth. "I also have reason to believe that it can be addressed by potions. If the animagus _potion _is taken over the spell, all calculations point to it returning the human to their natural form. It's never been tested, of course," Malfoy finished, snake-shrugging, which felt to Harry as a somewhat uncomfortable sliding but tickled mostly.

Harry opened his mouth, then left it open suspiciously. Malfoy ran over him much too much for his liking. When nothing emerged from the animal above him, Harry began questioning, only vaguely calmed down by the other alternatives.

"So, being that we aren't friends and you don't know the countercurse, that wouldn't work. You're saying the only way to solve this is with experimental potions brewing."

"Well, that, or you get your Mudblood to incant it for you. Unfortunately for you, the teachers have quite taken care of that idea with their communication limitation."

"Don't call Hermione a Mudblood. And I stand by my point—you want to do experimental potions brewing. Is there _any other _way to do this?"

"She is a Mudblood. Even you're half-pure. And to the query; no."

"Shoot."

"Indeed."

…

Harry and Draco next sat through the speech that the teachers had finally decided to deliver to them, but only picked up a few facts they hadn't figured out for themselves. The white owl that both Harry and Draco had suspected was Dumbledore confirmed their suspicions as he explained that communication would be impossible between unlike species… except for one other cross-species student. The first different animal a student touched would become their 'partner' if that animal hadn't already been chosen. They would be able to communicate, and all this plotting would be in the name of three things—the Ministry, school testing and unification, and Voldemort.

"Those reasons are stupid," was the first thing Harry proclaimed when Dumbledore finished speaking and pairs around them loudly broke into unintelligible chatter. "The Ministry's stupid, the school unification is stupid… even the Voldemort thing is stupid. The ONLY idea there that might not be stupid is the school testing. Testing ingenuity could be useful."

"What about school unification?" Draco asked curiously, interested in Harry's logic. "Voldemort too. I mean, it _does_ protect us if he and his army enter the castle—then they wouldn't be able to use magic being transformed as they are."

Harry rolled his eyes. "For someone named smart, you sure are stupid," he stated flatly, ignoring Malfoy's incensed writhing. "First of all—Voldemort. You think he's a good enough wizard for silent casting? Yes, he is _most definitely _a good enough wizard for silent casting. He's a _Dark Lord_—come, on, Malfoy, you _know _that he's super powerful. And as much as his army's going to be transformed into different animals—which you didn't tell me, by the way, that the whole castle's warded—they are going to be much stronger than what we are, probably. Giants, for example. You know a typical giant's personality animal? I don't, but it would probably be something like rabid hippos, which are ginormous. They'd crush us—I mean, look at Dumbledore."

Draco did glance at the serene owl. The serene, _tiny _owl. Some of the cats here could eat it in one bite.

"Fine," Draco acknowledged grumpily, but was cut off.

"House unification," Harry went on, nonplussed. "Wouldn't happen. Being that we were at our table when we all kneeled over and then woke up, almost every single student would have touched the student next to them. That's House unification—but that's not _different_ House unification, which, I'm pretty sure, is what the teachers were going for. It was incredibly unlikely a Slytherin would slither _all the way_ across the Great Hall, not touch anybody on the way there, and touch a Gryffindor first. And it's even more unlikely because sane people would not _want_ to go through the whole process, unlike my little leech here." Harry glared upward, and Malfoy just sneered back.

"Well, it obviously _could _have happened," Malfoy just said arrogantly, withdrawing into his affronted frame. "But now, it's time to work. There are two goals we need to accomplish. First, networking. I expect us to be top of the school in a week if the teachers don't interfere. Second, potions. We're heading into the Forbidden Forest or Snape's storeroom as soon as possible."

Harry just blinked at the change of subject, but didn't protest. However, he did protest once he absorbed what had been said. "Networking?" he demanded. "_Networking _is a focus? As in, trying to make ourselves popular? I already have friends!"

"Who said anything about friends?" Malfoy said vaguely. "That's what you're doing too, using me because I have skills you don't have. It doesn't mean I'm a friend… but it means you're networking. And since the Great Hall door is firmly closed, and our dear headmaster does not seem willing to open it anytime soon, that's the option that's left to us."

Harry was silent, evaluating his own actions as well as Malfoy's. Draco was silent too, waiting.

"Fine." Harry finally announced, wearily. "Let's get networking."

…

_This has got to be one of the most embarrassing things I have _ever _done in my life._

Curiously, the thought belonged to both of them, though Harry was showing it much more through his upset twitching. They were currently sitting in a dark corner, yet again, and Harry was listening to Malfoy perusing the 'candidates'. Malfoy wasn't all too pleased by it either, to go by his dialogue.

"My god, Potter, you have _no _idea how to choose contacts. I have never had toTEACH anybody how to become popular! Come on, boy, LEADERSHIP! You've got it naturally, now get it together! If you were trying to make a group to go against the Ministry, who would you talk to?"

Harry was quite astounded that Malfoy thought he had leadership talents, but besides that his next excuse was bleak.

"I would…" Harry started, wilting under the expectant silence Malfoy was giving him, "I would just go on my own and people would come with me whether I talked to them or not."

Harry was met with a tail snap, much as he had expected, and thus he didn't really move once the motion was complete. "Come ON, Potter!" Malfoy said exasperatedly. "I know you would go on your own! You're animagus form is a _wolf,_ for heavens sake! But what do you do to get people to come with you? _Why_ do they come with you? Come on, Potter, I know you can do this."

This was the oddest conversation he had ever had with Malfoy in all his years since Harry had met him. The tone was almost—friendly, or teacherly, to be precise, pushing him to figure it out for himself. Unfortunately, this kind of treatment from Malfoy only made him more confused. "Um…" he paused, thinking frantically. _What does Malfoy want from me? What kind of answer? Networking, networking… _Harry's mind spun, alighting gratefully on any kind of thought whatsoever.

_Ah! He said… he said I was networking him. Except he chose me, not the other way around! I don't know, okay, I don't—_

And then it all clicked. _Malfoy _had come to _him. _And it always worked that way; people always came initially. They were usually left behind or—Harry shuddered—_disposed of_—later, but they originally came without him having to ask them about it. They were just his friends. Harry bit a lip, surprised when the fang left blood, and tentatively answered the for once quiet Malfoy.

"Is it… I network by being polite to people, and they kind of just flock to me on my own."

"Finally." Draco said, and was smiling inside. Harry heard a bit of it but didn't comment, especially after Draco immediately changed his tone to a more condescending one.

"Close, Potter." He said next, and Harry listened attentively for his partner's magical leadership psychological reasoning. "Actually, the first step in your being a leader is not a conscious one on your part—you're the famous Boy-Who-Lived. People pay attention to you, whether you like it or not. Then you're friendly to everyone, so the initial jealousy is dissolved and they approach you like a magnet. The final step you make in your sort of networking is you go off on a trip alone, all noble-like, and after you've been kind to everyone and shown what a good hero you are, people take your lead and follow on, to both protect you and see what it's like to be brave themselves. It's all unconscious, I believe, but your personality is bizarre enough to make it work. Now, onwards—now that you might understand the tiniest bit why and how you always have people defending you, I spot a pair of Ravenclaws that'll react to you perfectly. Draw a lightning bolt on the ground with your claw to identify yourself, then just sidle up and be your awkward self. They'll love you."

Draco disappeared into his fur, and Harry was left even more astounded than he was the first time Draco had been observant. _But this is beyond observant_, Harry thought confusedly as he trotted off to the pair Malfoy had pointed him to. This was… Harry didn't even know. But that Malfoy would pay so much attention to him… wait. If Malfoy watched him so much and knew his supposed strategy inside and out, why wasn't he taken in by it? Malfoy had approached him as no one else had that first day. He'd made it so easy to be his friend—if Harry had only accepted it. But then again, he'd been rude and arrogant—ah. Malfoy hadn't known the strategy then, his personality at all. He would have been unprepared… and even the original question was ridiculous, Harry realized. Malfoy wasn't taken in by his strategy because Harry had not been friendly to him. Still, this new revelation was all very confusing… Harry frowned, but he had arrived at the Ravenclaws, a pair consisting of a darkly colored orangutan and a swan sitting quietly in the monkey's lap, his hands around her. Harry didn't know the reasoning behind why Malfoy had chosen this pair, but it was obvious even to Harry that they were a least a good choice.

Interrupting the narrative the monkey was having with another; in fact the two had a whole ring surrounding them, and the swan was hooting occasionally into the orangutan's ear—Harry stepped in the ring, feeling Malfoy bury himself deep in his fur. That was probably a smart choice, he realized, being that Malfoy was a snake and his form could not be more obvious in proclaiming him a Slytherin. Harry shuddered at the idea of 'sidling' up… but he took comfort from Malfoy's, who at least knew what he was doing, and why, even, presence and cautiously drew a scratch in the floor in the shape of a lightning bolt.

Immediately looked upon by everyone in the ring, Harry turned awkwardly to address the orangutan. Yipping quietly, he lied sphinx-like before it, raising a paw in an awkward wave. _Malfoy had definitely been right about one thing,_ Harry thought fondly, _this whole thing is REALLY awkward._

Going with his instincts being what he had been directly, or at least in Malfoy language, instructed to do, Harry just went with it. When the orangutan gestured and nodded at the swan, Harry casually shrugged the tiniest peek of Malfoy out, exposing his partner only after he himself was recognized and acknowledged. The show then only increased the Ravenclaws' curiosity, and with a variety of more human gestures, them having fingers and bodies more customary to humans, they questioned him as well as they were able. Harry answered as best as he could, finding curious fun in communicating without words, and when he finally nudged his way out of the circle he found it was much bigger than what it had been in the beginning. Turning his back on the orangutan that now seemed to be directing and instructing his Housemates to spread out and introduce themselves to others, Harry whispered quietly to Malfoy.

"That all right?"

"It was amazing," Malfoy answered back, and Harry glowed in the praise.

"They're all doing it now—networking—and the Ravenclaws know it was you who started it. Or more like me, actually." Malfoy said, abandoning all modesty, but having trouble getting rid of the almost reverent tone he had adopted after seeing Harry marshal all those people. In all his years in Slytherin, Draco, though the leader, had never been able to get people to follow his example without any push whatsoever. He'd had to back orders up with threats, and delicately manipulate individuals so they would manipulate others. It'd been a very complicated process, and one difficult to maintain and control, while Potter had managed, after a push in the right direction, to get a whole House to abandon _House rivalry_—rivalry that had existed since each student's arrived at Hogwarts. And Draco himself had been introduced and exposed—_without an uproar._ Being the leader of the Slytherin house, Draco knew all about how alienated they were—and had long given up trying to fix it. There were too many difficulties within the House itself to try to work out a method with the Houses around them. _And Harry… _

Draco shook off the tone, questioning himself roughly. What was he thinking? He knew Harry had natural leadership—otherwise Gryffindor wouldn't have been as popular as it was. He knew all this already; it shouldn't be a surprise. And thus, having regained control once again, Draco was able to instruct Harry without too much difficulty.

"Nice job, the both of us," he said briskly, pulling slightly to the right and grinning internally when Harry automatically corrected his course. "Hufflepuffs are next—we already got the hard part done. After that you can conquer the Gryffindors, and then we'll be done for the day. Hopefully dinner'll be served after that, since we are in the Great Hall."

"We're supposed to network for _eight hours?_" Harry demanded incredulously.

"I don't see why not," Draco commented. "I've done it before and more. Besides, we need at least three pairs to get to for the Hufflepuffs—they're not nearly as organized as Chang and Diggory over there. Gryffindors'll need some time too—you'll need to ignore your two followers. They'll try to convince other you aren't Harry Potter—and they're too defensive already for you to do anything to change it. Now, onwards, Potter, we do have work to do."

And Harry trotted off, confused to how he had gotten in front of this pair of birds, but shrugged it off with a smile as one of the many mysteries of Malfoy he'd mull over later.

A/N--

Pleased? Liked it? Hated it? Not enough happening, too much happening, not canon enough, emotionally satisfying? I'm always looking for reviews !

Anyway, thanks for reading, the next installment should be up soon! hauntful yay


	4. A 1st Time for Everything!

By the time dinnertime had arrived, Harry and Draco had managed to convince almost the whole of the students in the Hogwarts that they were friendly and approachable. This was not entirely good news for them, as it meant they were constantly surrounded by whining, scratching, and an otherwise large variety of noises vying for their attention.

"What the hell, Potter!" Draco hissed, burrowing deeper within Harry's fur only to be yanked out by a tug from a chimpanzee. "Too good a job, too good! Get them _away,_ now!"

"You're the one with the experience here!" Harry called wildly, pawing around him and as the bigger animal having much more trouble than Draco was. "You tell me! _I _don't know what to do!"

"What do you usually do?" Draco screeched, frustrated, glad that the Slytherins weren't here to hear this odd conversation, though they would have only been able to hear one side of it. Still, the way he was talking with Potter was getting decidedly friendly—but at another tug at his tail, Draco gave up thinking and concentrated on the current battle they were engaged in.

"Well—I—usually have a seizure from Voldemort attacking me, or do something that looks really bad even though it isn't--"

"Ug!" Draco screamed, sliding down underneath Harry's stomach. Harry yelped, and Draco squeezed lightly before spitting out a "Cover me!". Harry did, and Draco held tight to the relatively quiet fur on Harry's stomach. Keeping his head inside the rougher of the two layers, Draco breathed in once, held it, then let it out again. Closing oddly gray eyes, he began planning.

_Okay. _Draco thought, pushing away the idea that he always started out with 'okay', _We've got a friendly attack going on here. Why are they attacking? What is the motivation behind it? Because they need a leader. Why aren't they flocking to the teachers? _

Draco paused at this point and hissed, sticking his head out briefly into the chaos until he was sure he could be heard. "Potter!" he demanded, waiting until Harry had shaken away a bird alighting on his head. "Where are the teachers!"

Harry didn't even pause to wait for the reasoning, pushing through the throng as best as he could, his head held high all the way. Peering over the many assorted animals surrounding them and getting some fur pulled for his efforts, he could find no one.

"Malfoy, they're not here!"

Draco swore under his breath and stuck his head back in to the somewhat quieter fur. _So the teachers are gone. That's why. Secondly—why don't the prefects have control? What happened to Chang and Diggory? Where are Granger and Weasley, for that matter? _

Peering out upside down, Draco gave it up as a lost cause. Who knew why they were now the supposed leaders, but they were going to have to do something, fast. He felt Potter stumble and knew he was fading.

_Alright. We've been established the leaders, because of Potter's stupidity and freaking astounding social skills, which was not at all what I planned for. I wanted contacts, but not friends. Thus, we need to make ourselves unapproachable without actually offending anyone. Unapproachable, unapproachable…_

Draco flicked a tongue out, withdrawing it immediately when the tang of sweat and Potter assaulted his sentence. Clamping his mouth firmly shut, Draco reminded himself he definitely did _not _need that.

_Come on! What do _I _do… command. Need to command, be a force to be reckoned with. And if we wait, maybe, one minute more, it'll work. They've seen us being polite, now they'll see us being frightening and they'll respect us for our patience. Plus fear us, of course. _Draco finished, the mental, human projection of himself smirking, satisfied.

"Potter!" he called, twisting on the wolf's back until his head was again by Potter's ear. Harry shivered beneath him at the strange sensation, but didn't comment, still attempting to be as kind as possible to all the animals surrounding him while retaining some Harry space. He wasn't succeeding all that well, and didn't have enough attention to spare to devote it to Malfoy.

"Our plan's set. Time to be ferocious."

"But weren't we trying _not _to be ferocious a minute ago?" Harry asked, winded.

"Yes, and now we are. You've got the strength, Potter, now up."

"Up where?"

"Up on the Slytherin table, where else? We need to establish dominance over them as well as everyone else here!"

"But won't they be expecting you to talk, since they can understand you?" Harry asked, grunting, as he attempted to forge his way over.

Draco was surprised at the adept observation, but answered. "Yes, and you don't need to worry about that. Now, inside the wolf's head you've got a 'domination' position. Assume it once we get over there."

Against Malfoy's wishes, Harry was quite content to worry about that, but he gave it up when animals started peeling off the edges of the pack seeing their destination. He asked Malfoy about it, but he didn't seem concerned.

"Those are the weakings, anyway. The real leaders will follow."

Harry was again left astounded at the amount of both sheer arrogance _and_ experience Malfoy managed to convey in a total of two sentences.

"Right," was what Draco next said upon arriving. This was the big speech, and this was the table he hadn't been sure about when he'd instructed for contacts. Yet he was on a wolf, and was plenty poisonous himself, so maybe it wouldn't go all that bad. They had the black thing going for them. _And way too many intelligent students who know acutely what I'm doing._ Draco ignored the voice.

"SLYTHERIN HOUSE!" he bellowed as Harry leaped onto the table, not scrabbling at all on the slippery surface and ruining their entrance. _So far so good._ Draco thought as the whispering group of snakes stilled at the command they could understand. Draco looked briefly over the group, checking that the key ones were there—they were. The Slytherins were far from uniting their house over here, but there was definitive reason very few had moved. He could see the new leaders clear from where he was.

"I see new leaders have been established when I was gone acquiring this vessel--" _Oh, Potter's not going to like that, _Draco thought, wincing despite himself and squeezing briefly at the tenseness that was suddenly running up the wolf's body, "whom are now finally able to back up the brain with brawn. I intend to let them lead."

Draco ignored the shiver that ran across the whole group of snakes at the stepping down of a leader. There were also hisses, however, and Draco knew he had made the right choice.

"That is correct, your current leader, Draco Malfoy, is stepping down." Raising his body high off Potter's back, who was standing stiff-legged and tall despite Draco's put-downs (Draco knew beyond all others how tightly wired and sensitive Potter usually was, and he wouldn't let Draco forget the statement later, he knew) Draco let the lighting ignite him in purple fire. He imagined the picture they made was very well presented, and he leaned down again before it was ruined. The roar of hisses at the formality backed off a bit.

"However, I have managed to make contacts with the other Houses." He was met with snorts of derision as the few remaining other House followers had fled with Draco's purple-stance. Draco lifted his head and snorted.

"You are fooled by their running? I am disappointed, Slytherins; you know as well as I that now they fear me. However, you should also know that they respect me, and give me a kind of awe. You know very well the awe-inspiring terror we of the Slytherin House evoke."

He received a few snake-chuckles, which sounded like a high wind screeching down a chalkboard. Draco winced, but before he could begin again he was interrupted.

"Malfoy, what do you want with us?" a larger brown python demanded, and Draco watched carefully as the group collectively straightened in the importance of the question. Draco continued on.

"Impatient, are we, Kelby? I was getting to that. I expect that the Slytherins will leave me as a whole in the view of the upcoming new leaders. I am just offering a few contacts for the few that might need them. Talk to me after, and I will see what I can do in obtaining some inter-House connections. Is that all?"

Partners looked at one another, lightly conversing and considering. This was a momentous event, after all. If and when Draco resumed his human form, the politics within the house were up ripe for the picking. If they manipulated this correctly…

However, Draco was not about to give them the hours they'd need for the complexity of Slytherin upheaval. It had happened a few times in the past—indeed, the reason he was currently leader was from an uprising in third year—and he knew that it really did take a whole day, or night, to plan. He wanted an answer now, so that they would leave him alone while in his animagus shape—because this period was going to be important. There were more than enough clues pointing to that.

"Are we decided then? I'm withdrawing, and unapproachable except by those who take my deal immediately after this?"

There was a pregnant silence, and then one resentful "yes" after another cut the air. "Descend, leader," was hissed collectively once all had finished their assent.

"Very well," Draco said, pleased but determined not to show it. "I will be waiting at the end of the table."

After their leave, they were quickly approached by several snakes—Malfoy sealed the deals quickly and they were again trotting off to what was now 'their corner'. Alone, finally, having accomplished his plan completely and without incidents, Malfoy sagged against Potter's neck.

"I'm your vessel?" reached his ears in a surprisingly not-accusatory manner, and Malfoy thanked some one up there for the understanding of his current mood.

"Needed to be said, otherwise they'd ask questions. I made it obvious you were from one of the other Houses and that drew attention. Plus, it's expected."

"That Slytherins must _control_ everyone around them?" Potter stated, incredulous.

"Defense system," Malfoy said wearily. Delicate social work like this always exhausted him, and he and Potter had been going for hours. "Think about how you treat us, and how we treat you, and you'll get it."

Harry was silent, finally deciding it was complicated enough that he'd contemplate it later. Stepping wearily over to the Gryffindor table, which was all the way across the Hall—_groan_—he fell onto a surviving bench, feeling as exhausted as what Malfoy was currently exposing, draped across him carelessly and not even snapping.

"Food's here." He said presently as it appeared two plates with small rodents and what looked to be a hunk of raw meat. Harry grimaced, feeling Malfoy get up and do the same, though he was still hanging on, being wrapped around Harry's stomach. Actually, he'd been wrapped around his stomach the whole day—Harry just hadn't really paid attention to it. It was good, he supposed, because it meant that the position was comfortable, but the thought of _Draco Malfoy_ being wrapped around him to support himself was funny enough for him to begin eating.

"This is gross," Malfoy stated, feeling a bit more like himself after ending their day-long fasting. And for Malfoy, it was literally the whole day, not having eaten breakfast. "But at least we won't have to do it that often."

"Yeah, I think wolves can go weeks without food," Harry said thoughtfully. "Snakes the same?"

"Years, occasionally. Now, we sleep and then when the doors open tomorrow morning we go raid Snape's storeroom. Hurry up, Potter, I want to get back to my corner."

"_Your_ corner? Now tell me how you know the doors will open tomorrow morning," Harry said, slowing his eating down with a smile. The familiar banter was almost comforting.

"Yes, my corner, and if you don't finish eating now I'm spraying you."

"You would not," Harry answered, finishing his meat in one gulp. "then you'd have to slither, and the way you were acting before, you are much too tired to slither. Imagine—the great Draco Malfoy having to depend on my great prowess to get around! Wait—you don't have to imagine it!" Harry yipped delightedly, loping off toward their corner with easy strides. His ears were flipped back though, and Harry was sure Malfoy saw them.

"Malfoys are never tired," Malfoy stated, drawing himself up a few inches before falling with a thump back down onto Harry's neck. _Not even a comeback,_ Harry thought amusedly. _He's totally drained._

"Whatever, Malfoy."

And they were back in their corner. Harry waited patiently for Malfoy to unwrap, waiting until only the tip of Malfoy's tail was still under him before collapsing. Harry flipped his ears to the weak hiss that met them with an inward smirk.

"'Night Malfoy," he stated, as the sky above in the Great Hall darkened past dusk. Remembering that Malfoy had still not answered his question about why the doors would be opening tomorrow, he resolved to ask tomorrow. He really _was_ tired now.

And to his complete amazement he was answered back. "Night Potter." Met his ears, and Harry thought just how much had happened since just this morning.

Then the Great Hall gradually fell silent, and partners curled around each other to sleep the new world away.

…

"Potter." Was literally hissed in his ear, but Harry just willed it away, feigning ignorance.

"_Potter._" Was hissed again, and this time he got snapped on the muzzle with what felt like a whip.

"Geez, Malfoy!" Harry yelped, starting awake and jumping up, completely throwing the black snake off his back. And his traitor tail too, Harry thought, glaring at it. "Give me more than one warning!"

"Shh--!" was the answer he got, and Harry bared his teeth and the black snake who was looking around frantically. Seeing no one else awake, not that they could see anything, dawn having not even broke, Harry allowed the git to slither up his leg and around his body.

"What's your problem?" Harry snarled once Malfoy was settled, and was surprised when a harder squeeze than usual made him suck him his stomach. _I spend much too much time being surprised,_ Harry thought faintly, _and how in the world do I know how Malfoy usually squeezes?_

"The doors are open," was all the answer he got, and Harry held the anger a little longer as an adrenaline boost before it vanished as he realized the time. _Shoot, it must be what, four o'clock in the morning? And WHY must we get the potions NOW?_

"I'm not the only potions genius," Malfoy answered, as though reading his mind, "nor am I the only Slytherin. We're going to have competition as is," Malfoy yawned though, with a disturbingly long cracking, and Harry decided he didn't really want to know how wide Malfoy's jaw was. Though it did help, a little, to know that he wasn't the only one completely offset by how early this was. He was practically falling asleep on his paws.

"Tell me about the doors," Harry said firmly, shaking his head and loping off as fast he could to try to stay awake. "Why you knew they'd be open."

Harry was met with silence for a moment, and was about to demand again when the familiar hiss met his ears. "… This moment is more important than you think it is, Potter. I—the teachers have vanished. The Ministry official vanished. And he's not even a Ministry official either—my father would have warned me, and that's what worries me the most about this situation, that I had no forewarning whatsoever. I _always_ receive warning at least two weeks in advance when any official change comes about at Hogwarts, and none of them have been so drastic as this. And I have received nothing. That means one of two things—my father no longer has access to me, or this was not a planned event."

"Couldn't your father just have abandoned you?" Harry asked, knowing it was a _very _stupid question even as soon as it left his mouth. Even within the Malfoys, family was family. And he had just insulted the family loyalty—maybe he could blame it on not having a family? Maybe—Harry winced as the silence stretched on.

But instead of an angry outburst and the scornful mocking Harry was expecting, he was met with a rather scarily neutral tone. "He wouldn't do that."

"Of course he wouldn't," Harry cut in easily, relieved that Malfoy hadn't figuratively or literally bit his head off. "It was a stupid question, I'm sor--"

"—No, I mean, he wouldn't have done that because it would not be to our advantage." Malfoy broke back in. "My father believes in plans; he does not believe in intuition. Thus, to not give me weeks to plan how to use the situation to its utmost potential, he would be both enforcing the use of intuition and wasting a valuable opportunity to teach me exortionism." This whole speech was delivered in the same frighteningly flat voice, and Harry wanted it gone, immediately. He'd never thought he'd want the sneering voice, or hiss, in this case, back, but there he was.

"So what does this have to do with this situation being important?" Harry asked, discarding several comments and deciding to go with the informative instead. When Malfoy was informing him of things, there was always some gloating involved.

And to Harry's relief, there was. "Poor Potter—so much you don't know," The snake said, reviving and shaking its head in mock sadness. "Yes, so anyway, I'm assuming this isn't a planned event. Thus, the disappearance of the teachers makes it even more concerning. Since there must be no one involved _but _the teachers, them having disappear means we're in serious trouble."

"Like Voldemort trouble?"

"Don't say his name, but yes."

Harry thought for a minute, then decided that this was getting much too repetitive. However, he _still _needed to know, and though Malfoy wasn't actively avoiding the topic, this was getting frustrating.

Malfoy started, and Harry began to think the boy spent his whole life scheming. Though with what Malfoy had just brought up to him, that shouldn't really be a surprise. Nevertheless, asked his unanswered question. Harry waited impatiently.

"Oh! Oh... the doors. Yes, since this was such an important moment, I just felt they'd be open at midnight, since it always seems to go that way. You know, stories and stuff?"

Harry just gaped at him. Draco, for the first real time in Harry's life, laughed.

A/N—

And onwards they go! Snape's storeroom is next—I hope I've built up the amount of drama needed to keep the story under this category! Oh, and I'm REALLY sorry about the networking thing. The problem is, I don't have near enough experience to make this realistic, so what it comes off with is a dramatic anti-climatic _wha_? kind of idea. I am trying my best, though, and know that after a decade or so more learning it will be much cleaner. (not that I'll still be here then :))


	5. Well, THAT failed

"Hm…" Draco mused.

"Yes, hm…" Harry mused right back. When Draco didn't respond, Harry yanked his head up and connected with the bottom of the snake's jaw.

"_Potter_!"

"I need more than a 'hm', Malfoy!"

"Patience, you idiot! I can't plan properly if you're interrupting me!"

"I'm going to be attacked soon, Malfoy. And if you don't plan to_ say _anything, I am going to turn around and we are going to look for the teachers. Because as much as I love the idea of being human, I value my life in animal _and_ human form more."

Malfoy hissed but issued a command. "Behind that pillar, Potter," he stated haughtily. "It's in shadow, so we shouldn't be seen."

"_Thank_ you," he shot back in a hefty sigh, and Malfoy attempted to roll his eyes.

From what he could see down the Potions corridor, Potter actually had a rather good point in wanting to leave. Unfortunately, also from what he could see down the corridor, there was going to be absolutely no chance of leaving, because by then all the potions would be destroyed and or stolen and or just plain gone. It seemed _everyone _was down here tonight, at two am in the morning, frantically trying to beat down Snape's door, or to get into position, or to get everyone else to stop fighting so they could do so.

"What in the world are _Hufflepuffs_ doing here?"

"Followed the crowd, most likely," Harry answered wearily, looking cautiously around his pillar. "I think I stepped on a fair amount of people trying to get out of the Great Hall."

Draco groaned, but didn't protest, despite the fact that it was a weak excuse. That was no reason why so many pairs should be down here, since only the brilliantest of brilliant Slytherins would have had this idea, but he'd leave it for now since Potter was most likely to destroy all the opportunities this situation held if he waited too long. If played correctly, though, Potter would be a most useful resource…

"Potter, we're preparing for our first battle between the animaguses of Hogwarts. Tell me what are the strongest animals you see and if you would be able to take them down once they get the door open."

"What?" Harry said, considerably shocked. "Isn't a run-in, kick-'em-down simulation kind of… non-Slytherin-ish? I thought you'd have a less endangering plan, more cunning and such!"

"Shut up and answer the question, Potter. And you're used to danger, you should have no problem."

"Don't I know it," Harry murmured, and resumed looking around the stone. "Okay, so there's a tiger, a few million horses, a few bazillion monkeys, and a bunch of really tiny dog/rabbit/pet-like things. I could probably hold off a few, but not all of them at once, and especially not the tiger unless you expect me to go one on one and end up mortally injured."

"And, of course, we've got a row of elephants trumpeting behind us," Malfoy said morosely, pleased that the lumbering beasts couldn't fit in the corridor but not pleased with anything more than that. "And that's attracting even more people, not that it's loud enough in here."

Pulling himself together, Malfoy brought himself back to the subject. "Alright. So, you're not capable enough to hold everything off in here. Especially with the poison and such… we need magic."

"Brilliant deduction, Malfoy," Harry stated blandly, inching away from Malfoy's elephants. "Except we already discovered that that's not possible, and I really have no idea where my wand disappeared to. Why can't we resolve this peaceably, anyway?"

"Because we've got no form of communication," Malfoy bit back, and Harry started briefly at the amount of furor present. _Why would Malfoy be so mad about communication…? Oh. OH._

"That's your only direct power, isn't it," Harry asked softly, more a statement than a question. He wasn't surprised he when he didn't get an answer, only a very sharp hiss.

"_Leave it._"

And Harry decided to leave it for now.

They sat a bit in tension-filled silence, and then Harry decided they really did need to get along with some sort of plan, or he really was going to get trampled. The floor rumbled ominously in agreement.

"Kay, so what are we doing?"

Draco hissed a deep breath. _Calm. Calm. CALM. Just answer the stupid question, then brooding. _Draco's eyes snapped open. _Then again, I'll never be able to regain human form without him. Stupid. This whole situation is so _stupid.

Taking another deep breath, Draco forged in, pushing the resentment and everything else to the back of his mind. "Like I was saying, we need magic. Have you ever done wandless magic, Potter?"

"Not that I can think of..." Harry said hesitantly, going over possible answers in his mind. Well, Malfoy hadn't exploded, so all must be going well. _Oh, Malfoy, snake!_

"Oh, yeah, I did accidental magic when I was eleven," Harry stated, remembering. "That count?"

Malfoy was silent a moment, contemplating. "Sure." He said finally, glancing up at the animals that _still _hadn't managed to get the door down. What in the world had Severus put on that thing? Though it would help if all the pairs would _work together_…

Shaking his clouded head yet again, Malfoy returned back to the topic at hand. Harry was capable of doing wandless magic, and he had enough power to do it without training if Draco helped a little… and they had the time to let Harry black out later. However, he couldn't really think of any other way to do this, and they did need to clear all the other students out if they wanted access… Malfoy started at the wrenching noise of wood cracking, and his brain went into overdrive. They really didn't have any time…!

"Potter." Harry heard commandingly. "Can you do wandless magic now if I tell you what to do?"

Harry was relieved to hear the slightly distant tone back in Malfoy's voice that meant he was smack-dab in the middle of executing a workable plan. Wandless magic, though? It had been _accidental._ He opened his mouth hesitantly, but Malfoy interrupted at the painful creaking of the door.

"Never mind," Draco said calculatingly, registering the wolf's sudden relief, but not acting upon it. "Doesn't matter if you _can_ do it not, 'cause you _are_ doing it. I need you to feel for your magic, now."

Harry started, adrenaline and a spike of frustration and fear shooting through him. _Gather his magic?_ _What does that mean? This isn't CLEAR!_

"Malfoy-!" he called weakly, "I don't--"

"Like you're going to cast the Patronus," Draco commanded again, but a touch more gently. "You can do this, Potter. Deep breath. About to cast the Patronus. Focus and bring it all into yourself, visualize bright light passing through everyone in this hallway. Got it?"

Harry did, and focused as Draco said, listening vaguely to the hissing words. He'd almost enjoy this, trying spells with Draco, but…_focus,_ Harry thought angrily to himself. _They're going to break down the door. CONCENTRATE!_

"And say it with me now. _Strongly._ Anitetecommuni!"

"Anitetecommuni," Harry whispered audibly, feeling it echo around his head. "Is that even a spell, Draco?" Harry's eyes shot open, suddenly worried.

"Doesn't matter!" Malfoy hissed, anger audible now. "CONCENTRATE, Potter! Anitetecommuni! You've trusted me this far, this is no time to stop! The door's going to go down any second! On three!"

Harry focused his magic frantically, drawing back into himself even as Malfoy hissed one. The wood screeched ominously, and Harry squeezed his eyes shut. _Anitetecommuni, dementors, bright light this hallway concentrate ANI—_

"THREE!" exploded in his ears and Harry's eyes whipped open, a fierce scowl on his face.

_ANITETECOMMUNI!_

Draco twisted frantically, whipping his tail out of the way just as Harry fell limply to the ground. _That was NOT what the spell was supposed to have done!_ Draco succumbed to panic for only a moment before shutting it down. _He has _so much_ power…_ was his next thought, and Draco, looking around, could only affirm it.

Everyone in the whole area, except him, was unconscious. The door was open, the wood smashed into fragments in spots and torn down by planks in others. But who knew how long this would last… gathering his resolve and irritatingly dismissing his awe, Draco slithered forward to approach the door. Ignoring the various animals sprawled around him, he realized this was the perfect moment to do… _something…_ but the potions came first. Draco stopped, perplexed by the small pang that hit him at the thought of being a human again, but moved forward again almost angrily. _Why does my brain hate me so much?_

Contemplating the remains of the door briefly, Draco launched himself over one of the pieces and maneuvered over, now inside and peering impatiently into the deep dark. There were no torches in here, though Draco had hardly even noticed he was in the dungeons with his improved animal vision. This was complete black… and rather cold, Draco thought, shivering and realizing just how much time he spent in Potter's fur.

_Potions,_ Draco thought determinedly, inching toward the cabinet with much less speed than he would have had in his human form. Hissing anxiously, Draco cast the highest level Alohamora he could cast wandlessly, surprised when silence answered him. A faint click was heard a few seconds later, leaving Draco confused to the tiny amount of power he seemed to have in this form but pleased that at least the cabinet was open. Squirming relentlessly, and with the use of several tables and amazing hanging skills, Draco was dangling from a handle, wrapped around a chair, and had several portion of his body suspended over three feet in midair when he finally managed to get the cabinet open, but he did. He stared inside, letting the ever-faint light of the torches creep into the darkness.

Where ingredients had lined the shelves before, there was nothing.

…

_AH! _Draco screamed in his mind, bordering on hysterical. _THERE IS NO FREAKING WAY I CAN GET INTO SNAPE'S PRIVATE STOREROOM by myself, and all the ingredients are gone from the students'! What am I supposed to do...?! _Draco trailed off miserably, panicked even more by the groaning and unintelligible caws from the corridor. _Now everyone's waking up, and… Harry._ Draco thought, grasping onto the idea with fervor. _Just got to get to Harry._

Draco really had no idea how he managed to get to Harry without disturbing the waking animals, but he figured that if he could open a locked cabinet he could do pretty much anything, especially keyed up on panic as he was. Reaching the dark in the darkness, Draco crawled up a leg almost frantically, despite the fact that he was supposed to be calm. _Everything is out of control now though, what was I supposed to do...?_

Harry definitely was not aware of what was going on, and why he was feeling so incredibly sore and why everything was suddenly quiet, but he _was _aware when a sparkling cold, slick presence curled up around his leg and lay shivering against his skin, squeezing tightly. _Malfoy?_ Harry thought questionally, almost ridding himself of the thought as the coiling around his stomach grew actually painful. Draco didn't hurt him, no matter what he said, and Draco definitely didn't _shudder…_

"Draco?" Harry called softly, startled at realizing that was only who it could be. "Draco?"

"Just get us out," he heard in a broken whisper, and Harry left, scrambling as fast as he could.

…

"Draco, what's wrong?"

"Everything's gone."

"Everything as in…"

"Snape. His supplies. His ingredients, his desk, his stuff. Everything."

"Everything about the teachers are totally missing?!"

"I didn't say that. I said Snape."

"Oh Draco…" Harry sighed, finally understanding.

There was a rather awkward pause in which at least Draco stopped shivering. Unfortunately, the alternative was that he froze.

"_What _did you say?" Harry heard in a curiously flat voice. _I don't know. What did I say? At least it got Draco calmed down, whatever it—_

"AH! WHAT _DID_ I SAY?!" Harry exploded, his brain finally backtracking enough to reveal the comment. _No no NO! That was something Mrs. _Weasley _would have said! Oh dear lord, I think I am going to die soon. _

"I—I—" _Think, you idiot, think! I'm DOOMED! DOOMED!_

Draco smirked into Harry's fur, surprising himself with the rapid disappearance of shock. Amusement had taken its place, and Draco was eagerly awaiting Harry's response. _This will be funny… _

"Uh…I'm sorry?" Harry tried, unsure why he himself had used both Malfoy's first name and in a _sympathetic _way. He was just waiting for the dooming to begin.

"Well, then, let's get a move on," Draco stated business-like, a smirk in his voice but no comment otherwise. Harry was just getting too used to Draco shocking him. With a quick shake, he started moving out of the dungeons which were rapidly awakening with noise. "that option obviously won't work. We need to find the teachers—that's now on our list of required items."

"Along with finding or creating potions and nabbing contacts in the Houses." Harry sighed. "You don't aim for the stars, Malfoy. You aim for the universe."

"What?" Draco asked confusedly. What did aiming--?

"Muggle saying, sorry," Harry added with another sigh, and that explained that. They rode in silence for a little bit, Draco hanging on almost unconsciously as Harry climbed yet more stairs and ended up in the Entrance Hall. "So, where are we going next?"

"Outside, I suppose," Draco said, looking at the doors as if they were something rather unpleasant. "Go on, get closer. I've got to pull yet another handle and you've got to push the darn thing open."

"Ah, so _that's_ what you were doing," Harry said thoughtfully. "When I woke up, everyone was on the ground and you suddenly appeared in my fur. Cold, too. Was that supposed to happen? I mean, everyone keening over? I mean, I at least shouldn't have. Actually, you definitely should have if I did." Harry was frowning at this point, puzzling over yet more mysteries. He awaited Malfoy's speech while continuing to think for himself.

"I am cold-blooded, you know," Malfoy started, and Harry snorted. Typical Malfoy—start with himself first. There was more to come though, the tone suggested it. "But no, the spell was not supposed to do that. Despite the fact that I made it up on the spot-" Harry gasped, but Draco ignored him, "it was supposed to give you a chance to talk in their heads. Preferably in English, as I assumed you talk to yourself in English, so it should have worked. However, all you managed to do is knock everyone out. I don't know why that happened, but the amount of power you pushed into it probably had something to do with it. It definitely had something to do with you knocking yourself out. It took _me _months to do wandless magic safely."

His thoughts were whirling, but three main emotions took hold of Harry at that point. Anger, naturally, confusion still, and awe yet again. _Stupid awe, _Harry thought disdainfully.

"So, you didn't know what you were doing, you really had no right trusting me to get through alive, and you just had to hope everything worked out. That's a massive amount of hope, Malfoy." Harry said flatly, refusing to line himself up properly with the doors until Malfoy answered him.

"Yes, but I've had practice and theoretically it should have worked. And what's practical but theory at work? Now stand up right here, I can't reach the handle from where we are now."

"_Malfoy_," Harry growled and Draco reluctantly backed off.

"Fine. Look, it worked out in the end, didn't it? That obviously means I did something right."

"You could have gotten me killed! Or I might not have woken up yet! Then where would you be?"

"But you _did _wake up! You've got such a bloody amount of power that there was no chance you wouldn't! You knocked at least _thirty_ animals out, Potter, for god's sake. It's a miracle I wasn't out with them. And the only reason you got knocked out was because of all that power leaving you. And yet, and yet. You're up and refusing to open doors within twenty minutes! That's power, Potter, power and concentration and a bit of skill! You were _fine,_ that's all that matters!"

Draco ranted sulkily in his head as Potter finally bent to obey him. "About bloody time," he murmured, but launched himself at the handle anyway. It shocked him.

"AH!" Draco screeched as he shot backward by a few meters, pulling Harry with him. Unwrapping himself rapidly from the wolf's neck, he scrambled back into the fur. _This is becoming much too 'safe', _Draco thought with a sigh. Then again, anywhere he wasn't visible was safe, and Harry's black fur did the trick.

"What happened?" Harry called, reawakened back to the situation. "You—nevermind."

"Yes, the bloody door shocked me. With magic, too." Draco cursed, disgruntled, but didn't move despite that. "Yet another dead end. No Forbidden Forest for us."

"We were going to the Forbidden Forest?" Harry demanded, somewhat horrified. "Why wasn't I made aware of this?"

"Because you were too busy screeching at me about my other plan. Well, that leaves out most of my other options. We're not allowed out. So, where am I supposed to get my potions?" Harry listened, but no answer was forthcoming from the black snake. In fact, the end of that sentence had seemed more rhetorical than anything else. But- it was about time he pulled his weight, anyway. _Despite the fact that I am not only pulling my weight but dragging that of a frequently thrown snake. _

"I think I might have an idea." Harry announced, breaking Draco out of his self-imposed withdrawal.

"What?" Draco said distantly, but came to a minute later. "For the teachers, the potions, or my father?"

"For the potions, you idiot," Harry said irritably, "though, in fact, it can probably take care of most of our problems right now. I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier."

Draco waited almost patiently while Harry reflected, only snapping after a full ten seconds. Harry was impressed.

"Have you ever heard of the Room of Requirement, Draco?"

Draco's eyes widened. "I can't believe I didn't think of that."

"Me either. Now that we've both been shocked or passed out, are we ready to do something relatively _safe_ that do not involve made-up spells?"

Draco grumbled while Harry smiled and started trotting.

A/N—

Whoo, they're getting closer! It's about time I got to call them by their first names! Comments, including flames, always welcome! hauntful yay

Oh, and Anitetecommuni… heh heh. I've not the faintest knowledge of Latin, and thus turned to French for the term 'head'… which is tête. Ani- animagus, communi… yeah, fairly self-explanatory…

And finally! Updates are going to be really, REALLY slow for a while. School just started, and what with the sudden barrage of homework from a new grade, only slightly less than 20 hours of swimming a week, and just general chaos, writing has taken a lower position on my to-do list than even a few weeks before. The update time might even be classified as 'on hiatus' if life doesn't slow down soon. But I have hope that it will—so thanks for reading, and sorry about the extreme amount of patience I'm enforcing on you guys! (just like the delay in the 6th HP movie. What's up with that? It was supposed to come out in November, but NOooo, they have to get it out NEXT SUMMER…)


	6. Getting to Know You

A/N—

Heh heh, it gets darker! Yay! Though less romantic, I'm sorry to say. Well, that's how Draco and Harry's relationship works, what can I say. I want to thank all my readers and reviewers (THANK YOU! Makes me smile every time I open my email) and the favoriters and alerters out there too. You have kept me writing despite the sudden ban on fanfiction I am impeding! (self-imposed, too, so all the stronger) Thank you!

--

"O-kay," Harry announced, withholding his groan. "Looks like every single student at Hogwarts follows our very steps before we make them."

"Which is another way of saying that you're not fighting through the crowd, isn't it."

"Well, yeah."

Draco sighed but had to agree with the sentiment. They had been ousted again in the brilliant ideas department and there were quite a lot of people attempting to ransack the Room of Requirement. Unfortunately, there were undoubtedly students already present in the room, which meant that no more could come in. They really were stuck, once again.

"I wish Hermione was here," Harry murmured beneath him, and Draco looked down sharply from his position swaying above the dark head. "What?" he demanded, rather too harshly, but Draco didn't much care.

Ignoring his tone, Harry just went on and explained a rational answer."Then we could search, or actually have Hermione conduct, a search though the library. It'd be useful to have more information on this spell. I don't even know how you know so much about it, no offense or anything, but more info's always good. Plus, they've always been there for me, you know? I just… yeah."

Draco snorted but didn't attempt to decipher the comment. Of course information was always useful, but they didn't need the _Mudblood's _help. Draco was entirely capable of operating on his own. It was Potter's weakness that he couldn't.

"Fine, library, whatever. We'll just be trampled yet again by our voracious pairs. Why can't anybody work on their own here?"

"If you will remember, Malfoy," Harry stated, slightly amused, "you are the one who is on _my _back, talking to _me. _If you wanted to work on your own, you could easily do so."

Draco opened his mouth but closed it again, grumbling. Rationality sucked, and that was final. _He_ didn't know why he was still here with idiot Potter. Though in fact he'd probably have to figure that out immediately… oh yes! He was using Harry's position. He meant Potter's position. And he really did need to get started on that, once he could come up with something. The only problem was, his brain did not seem to want to come up with anything to use Harry properly for.

"Shut up, Potter. My reasons remain my reasons alone. You'd do best to keep your observations to yourself."

Harry froze, and Draco rapidly ignored the small pang of guilt he felt. That _had _been rather hurtful… and much more vicious than he had meant it to come out. But Potter deserved it. He needed to know when to keep to himself. Draco kept silent.

Potter kept silent too. After a brief moment, he opened his mouth… then closed it again. Shaking his head, Harry began walking again. The silence was thick in the cacophony of voices around them.

"Do you even know where we're going?" Draco demanded, as they left the Room's hallway and marched down the stairs. "Because I haven't the faintest idea where you're dragging me."

He received no response but a jerk to a stop. "Potter?" Draco asked in a sing-song voice. "_Potter _answer me."

Still no response and Draco realized he might have pushed it a bit too far this time. "Potter. Answer me, NOW. Malfoys are not ignored! Are we going to the library? Are we going to find your little friends? I want an answer!"

The tremble that ran through the body beneath him was not one of fear, Draco knew. It was most likely one of rage. But now _he _was too upset to do anything about it. _I can't have Harry ignoring me! I didn't mean it! Stupid Potter!_ Draco's brow furrowed in frustration, and he breathed deeply, trying to calm himself. _Logic,_ he whispered to himself, and resolved to ignore Harry just until he could sort himself out.

_Right. I am upset, that is obvious. It was probably my own fault Potter is angry. However, the question is how to resolve it. Potter himself is not reacting as he usually does—with threats and violence. That's probably a main part of why I'm getting mad right now too… because he's being unexpected. So, Potter's being unexpected, giving me the silent treatment—I HATE THE SILENT TREATMENT!—and I really do need him with me. As to why I'm upset? Well, the sad thing is, I always am when he ignores me. This had better not become a habit. _

_Anyway! I need to get him off the silent treatment! When was the last time I was faced with this? Oh yes. Father. _

"May I beg your apologies," Draco announced stiffly, probably scaring Potter into the realms of Hades if his body language had any say in the matter. Draco forged on anyway—if he had learned one thing through his punishments, it was that to stop halfway was even worse than not attempting anything in the first place. "I was foolish in my words. If you would accept to take me back after the adequate punishment." The phrases were the ones that had been most successful over the years, and it had taken Draco years to perfect them. As is, he had to tweak certain words every time so as to make it original, while still maintaining the overall mood. _Malfoys must be original,_ Draco sneered to himself. _I'm practically a poet. But originality? I'll leave that for now and just go with the best construction. _

Harry was shocked. Harry was very, very shocked. His brain had completely shut down. It was repeating itself on auto-mind, _Draco Malfoy apologized. Draco Malfoy apologized to ME. Draco Malfoy BEGS me to ACCEPT his APOLOGIES. Has the world ended. The world has ended. Draco Malfoy has begged me to accept his apologies after I punish him. Oh god. The world must be burning. _Harry glanced out the impenetrable windows.

It certainly looked the same.

And that's when Harry realized he should probably say something, for his rage had certainly disappeared (lost in the realm of somewhat horrified shock) because Malfoy was wrapped very, very rigidly around his middle, and it was beginning to hurt as the coils squeezed tighter and tighter with each passing moment. That would have to be taken care of first.

"Right, Draco, I can't breathe."

Draco practically fell over he was so relieved. He should not be this relieved. Draco knew that. But he was being called Draco and all was alright for now. _Thank goodness, and as much as I hate to say it, thank you Father for this. _

"So, I'm still resentful about that comment," Harry was still talking, and Draco resolved to pay attention, "but I forgive you. Not "take you back"—where in the world did you get that wording, Malfoy?—but you're forgiven. Where _did _you learn that, though? I didn't think you were capable of an apology, albite a very awkward one."

"Malfoys aren't awkward," Draco announced somewhat weakly, though he was recovering by the moment. "and… I was taught," Draco continued evasively.

"You were _taught?!_" _Okay, wrong answer, _Draco thought, wincing.

"…Yes?"

"You were taught how to apologize in the most formal and uptight manner I've ever heard." Harry stated flatly.

"…Yes?" Draco was very much resisting an 'um', but if Harry continued on in this way he knew it'd come out soon.

"And the only real working of it is that it shocks people into forgetting whatever they were mad about."

"Well, actually--"

"No, Malfoy, that would be its purpose. An apology like that would never work with any normal person. Most would think you were crazy and awkward and it sounds as if it were _rehearsed._ Again, I'm saying that most normal people out there would practically think you were mocking them. Good thing I'm not a normal person and can be shocked by your actions and what I imagine what they might cost you. Though now I understand your use of it sparingly."

Uncomfortable, Draco just shifted uneasily. By Harry's definition, his father wasn't normal, but Draco already had suspected that. And he really had never apologized to any person his age before. His mother had a similar speech lined up ready for use, and his apologies to authoritative figures, such as Dumbledore sneer were only minutely adjusted, though they _were _less formal, at least tone-wise. Only Dumbledore had not appreciated his first try and Draco had adjusted accordingly. Still, everyone else _besides_ Dumbledore accepted the toned-down version of Father-apology. He realized he was squeezing Harry again and let go, suddenly wanting to just crawl away and do this on his own. Draco closed his eyes. _But I can't. I need to figure out what's happening here, and whenever something's important, Potter has a role to play. You must stay with him… plus you know you want to, no matter how uncomfortable this is. Why else would you APOLOGIZE? And to a weak—well, a person who has no direct power over you?_

"Wait, what is it, Draco? Do you _usually _apologize like this? To _WHO_?!"

"Father," Draco whispered, smacking himself internally. _Potter doesn't need to know this. This is a purely business arrangement. Why did I just tell him that?_ Draco moaned internally. He hated his mouth.

"Lucius? _Lucius likes to be apologized to like that?_ What the hell, Draco? What did you _do _to him?" Despite Harry's non-existent home life, he knew this wasn't normal. Harry had always imagined apologizing had been different between families, but this was kind of incredulous. Ron and Hermione—Harry suppressed the depressing images threatening to burst over him—had never mentioned similar. _I mean, _I _apologize like that to the _Dursleys_. And they are NOT normal. _Remembering when he had first attempted to pull the begging routine over on McGonagall, Harry winced. _Definitely not normal, if Hogwarts has anything to do with it. Then again… you know what, I'm going to stop thinking now. _

"I broke into his study once, I've been kind to the house-elves, I got an A at one point; deserving punishments. Just generally failing to uphold the Malfoy name." Draco cut in, interrupting Harry's thoughts. He meantally scrambled backwards, trying to determine the original question. _Oh._

_Malfoy home-life isn't what it's talked up to be. Then again, when have I ever heard anyone talking? Now, how to react to this little revelation…_

"It's okay, Draco. Understood—our families can be awful, though I doubt yours is as bad as mine. Nevertheless, if you want to apologize to me properly, a simple 'sorry' will do, as well as a quick description of what you're sorry for. It'll probably work for you better in general, too. Anyway, thanks, and I was heading towards the library. Unless you've got more info to tell me about our situation? I have no idea how you get your knowledge, but two heads are better than one… or so it's said. I think heads are overrated, but whatever."

Draco hissed out a startled laugh. _Who _is_ this guy? Accepts my life isn't perfect, ANNOUNCES my life isn't perfect, in fact, awful, despite any love for it I might feel, and then freaking declares his is _worse. _Harry Potter, wonder boy. Astounding. And he thinks heads are overrated, not including his own, of course. And then, obviously, he could not accept my apology as is, no, Harry Potter has to tell me how to correct it so that it might be more socially accepted. And since he's the master on the topic… oh my. Our Golden Boy is rather _frightening.

"Oi, Malfoy!" Harry barked at him, and Draco realized he was still waiting for answer. _Where'd Draco go? _Draco thought pathetically, but then realized his own error. _Oops. It'd probably help if I answered his question. _

"As much as I'd like to tell you, I really don't know that much about it. It's permanent, it runs in the family, the teachers have decided we need lessons in partnership and competition, it is not possible to have exactly the same animagus shape as another, it… you can't use magic, I suppose, or at least it screws up your magic. Augments yours and diminishes mine, but I haven't even read about this. The magic thing is purely observational. "

"So," Harry said, halting him and frantically processing. "Uh… two new facts there you haven't mentioned… or three, I suppose. First, no doubles. Any details there? Like, can you have the same species?"

"I would think so," Draco said thoughtfully. Looking around and seeing they were at a total standstill in the middle of a corridor, he motioned Harry back towards the Room before he went on. "It's hard to tell, but with all the monkeys at the Ravenclaw table, say, there's got to be a few that are alike. The thing is with animagus is that a few of the detailed physical characteristics come along with the shape. Your hair, for example. It's usually unruly and black, and your fur, happens to be, what do you know, unruly and black. Not that I'm complaining, of course, you can grip very well," Draco added pensively, and ignored Harry's groan.

"Thank you, Malfoy. It's good to know that I can be unruly and black whatever I am. Now, second new issue. Magic. Where did you see this?"

"I tried a wandless Alohamora. It didn't work. I'm good with wandless magic, or at least getting better, and I had quite dismal success in this form. Whereas you, totally inexperienced, managed to produce an Anitetecommuni, an untried and therefore uncontrollable spell, so powerfully that it overrode the original use and managed to black everyone out. Except for me, naturally. Though I'm not quite sure why that happened." _Confused-attempting-very-hard-not-to-look-confused is a good look on a snake, _Harry thought amusedly.

"Alright then. Last point—family ties. You're gonna have to explain that in full—it sounds theoretical, at any rate."

"Acute." Draco said distantly, gathering his thoughts. "I have, indeed, never had any experience with the practical portion of the idea. However, it is stressed in one of my books that 'the animagus spell is familial'. Nothing about animagus in general, just the spell. I'm not sure what that means. Anyway, that is really all I know. That the spell is familial."

"Ah." Harry announced acutely. Draco, as both an advantage and a disadvantage, had the skill of giving off the idea that he knew a lot more than he actually did. Usually it was good, but in this case… Harry sighed. Everything was up in the air, like usual. Rubbing his head thoughtfully with a paw, he looked around briefly as to where they were. A hallway, getting louder and louder by the second, near the Room of Requirement, Malfoy still on his back and their potions and networking ideas totally out of mind. Frowning, for it was unlike Draco to be so unfocused, he started for the Room again when a burning pain suddenly split his scull.

"Dra--" he managed to gasp right before he toppled over. _Good thing Draco has such good instincts or he would have been crushed, _Harry thought vaguely behind the stabbing

throbbing. _Looks like I still have my scar,_ was Harry's next thought, and for the second time that day, all went black.

…

"POTTER! _POTTER! HARRY! _ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW!" Draco was practically hysterical and was spinning around Harry in a way that he knew was not helping anyone at all. _What's happening? I didn't see any magic! Does Harry usually black out randomly? What was he doing before--?! WHAT DO I--?!_

_CALM._ A voice bellowed in his mind, and Draco recognized his own. _ARE YOU A SLYTHERIN, OR A PANICKING HUFFLEPUFF? _

_Hufflepuff, _Draco conceded rapidly, nodding his snake head up and down in a move that must look utterly ridiculous. Then he realized what he had thought. _No, I mean, Slytherin!_

_Then it's time you began acting like one, _the voice announced, and then it told him to do the calming exercise. He did. And while he was doing it, Harry suddenly screamed, and that sent him right back in to a panic again. _Screw the exercise, I've got to DO something!_

_AND YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING IN THIS FRAME OF MIND. CCCAAAALLLLMMM. _

_Off with the bellowing, _Draco thought back, wincing. But _it_, whatever _it _was, was right, and he persisting in lowering his heart's tempo while Harry screamed and rocked besides him. It was almost as painful as the Crucio, watching him. _Or maybe Harry's under the Crucio. One never knows with my family's master. _

"Harry," Draco announced, wrapping his body around the wolf's snapping muzzle and smacking him repeatedly with his tail. "You're scaring people. Snap out of it." Renewing his smacking with fervor, Draco attempted to look as deeply into the rolling green eyes as he could. "Stop making a scene."

Harry did not stop, but the rolling became less pronounced and he stopped rocking quite so vigorously. "That's right," Draco cooed. "Stop. You're Harry Potter, our frightening Golden Boy." Draco prayed briefly that there were no snakes in the audience. This was more than embarrassing for the both of them. "Harry Potter. _Harry Potter. _The Dark Lord is not somehow involved with you, because you're _Harry Potter._ Now stop it."

"_Minee, On!"_ was the extremely muffled screech he got in reply, and Draco's eyes narrowed at the body convulsing beneath him. "Yes, 'Hermione, Ron'" he announced sneeringly. Hitting him even more snappishly and adjusting his body so that Harry could no longer speak and throw him off, the goal being to stop his breathing, naturally, Draco sent out a pulse of magic. Weakened now, maybe, but it was something.

"_Finite Incantum,"_ Draco hissed, in the language of the snakes. "_FINITE INCANTUM!_"

Bright light exploded all around them, and Draco was thrown with the shock of it. When the dust cleared and he could see past the staring animals around them, he hissed and scrambled forward to where the only black shape lay. "_Harry?_"

"Draco," he heard weakly, and Draco sagged in relief. Harry was okay. From whatever it was. _And he DEFINITELY has some explaining to do!_

"Potter! What in the world was that?"

Harry awoke to a purple black blur whirling around him, but he was too busy coughing and trying to get some air into his lungs to answer him further than the choked reply of Draco's name. The fit slowly passed, and Harry noticed absently that they were surrounded yet again. However, it was less than absently that he saw Draco weaving extremely rapidly in front of his rapidly blinking eyes. "Draco?" he coughed quietly, discovering that the weaving, in this case, meant a very, very anxious Draco, or in other words a fanatically demanding one.

"HARRY POTTER! What happened! I demand an explanation, NOW! Was that the Cruciatius Curse? How does the Dark Lord Have access to you? Was that the Dark Lord? Why is he targeting you? Do you often have fits? Are they always this painful? Who have you talked to about this--"

"Draco." Harry cut him off, starting to breathe again. "You're asking for my life's history. There's too much of it, and everyone's staring. There's even some snakes who can understand you. Get off and climb on, we need to get to the Room."

"The Room? What does the Room have anything to do with this? I want an explanation, I don't care if it's your entire life story!" Draco was growing angrier by the second, and Harry wasn't sure how to deal with a _concerned _Draco. Angry Draco, he knew how to deal with, but angry Draco because of _concern?_ This was all too confusing right after a trip from Voldemort. Harry wanted a distraction, _now. _

"Look, Malfoy, maybe later," he announced coldly, taking in the instant stiffness and flicker of hurt as dispassionately as possible. "Right now, every single student is heading towards that door that just appeared," Harry forged on bravely despite the icy stare seeing right through him. "and we need to get in there before the door closes. You're making a scene." At the last words, the eyes flashed and finally caught his. Harry sucked in breath, the concentration and unending emotions too much to bear. Gray stared coldly into green, and the world stood still for a moment before Malfoy suddenly flicked his eyes away disdainfully.

Without a word, the black snake snapped off the floor and coiled around him, holding so tightly that it hurt to breathe. Harry knew it was on purpose.

"_You will tell me,_" he heard hissed in his ear, as quietly as he had ever heard Draco speak and all the more menacing because of it, "_and you will tell me completely. Maybe not now, but not maybe later. Not Maybe. You WILL. And if you don't…"_

The threat was left hanging, and Harry attempted to draw in a breath only to find he couldn't. His ribs cracked warningly, and for the first time in his life, Harry found himself maybe, possibly, afraid of Draco Malfoy.

The pressure suddenly eased, and oxygen rushed into his lungs. He stood trembling and gasping, black dots swimming before his eyes, but Harry did not miss Draco's quiet words, now no longer menacing, but almost sweet.

"_And don't you forget it._ Now, weren't we going somewhere?" The octave rose and Draco's normal snarky voice returned. Harry found himself wishing for it more and more these days. _Don't forget the Malfoys have a dark side. I know. I just saw your mother crucioed because your father's missing. You think I don't know?_

"Yes, we were." Harry said flatly, and that was that.


	7. Discoveries

A/N before—Ug. Ban is over. I am fighting though! The thing is, when I'm not reading fanfiction, I'm more likely to write it. But now that I'm back on reading, writing is getting quite difficult. And I won't finish this before school starts, I'm sorry to say. That means that updates are going to be even slower! However, this shall be finished. Muh ha ha! (and on with the actual writing, jeez)

A/N after—And the plot appears. Do you see it?

--

After being swept away in the sizable flood of animals into the Room of Requirement, Harry and Draco's first reactions went something like this:

"Whoo! We DID make it outside! How… funny?"

"This is NOT FUNNY, Potter! The door just disappeared!"

Harry peered around. It was true. "But how are we still outside?"

"We're obviously not outside! We're_ inside_, _in_ the Room of Requirement, _out in_ the Forbidden Forest!"

"…That made a lot of sense."

"Oh, just look!" Draco exploded, exasperated. "We're _inside_, _inside_ the Room we fought so hard to get in to--" Draco ignored the quiet snort of "_we?_""—and someone obviously has a very mistaken idea of how to get us all saved. Now get under that tree before we get eaten."

"Eaten?" Harry screeched, somewhat alarmed.

"Yup!" Draco replied cheerfully, and Harry was once again shocked into forgetting his next words. _I need to stop doing that. But then again, I'm supposed to remember that Malfoys have a dark side AND can be disgustingly sarcastically-but-not-really cheerful. Never mind, I'll just be shocked. _

"By whom, you ask?" Draco continued, a smirk in his tone. "Oh, by whatever this mysterious—cough cough FATHER—controller of the Room's qualities brilliant mind can come up with!... Better hope they're not imaginative," Draco added dryly.

"Uh, cough cough FATHER?" Harry repeated, once again sorting through the mess of what Draco had announced and searching for anything of value. Anything of value that needed to be clarified, of course, because Draco couldn't just make it easy on him and tell Harry everything he wanted to know. _Hypocrite,_ Harry thought, wincing guiltily. _Like you've told Draco anything on your side either._

"Hm," Draco said concentratedly. "That's a new one. What human motion matches with that squirmy thing you just did? It was rather fun."

Harry thought rapidly. Draco would only accept a real response for this question, though Harry was surprised he'd use the guilt due so early. _He could have asked a REAL question and forced me to answer because I didn't answer the last one. Is that a mistake, or is he being—ulterior motives, then?_

"A shrug," Harry lied, hoping it'd work. It didn't, not unexpectedly.

"Ooh, flat-out lying to me now," Draco announced, sneering and leaning down closer to Harry's ear. "You don't want to die now, do you _Harry?_" The purr of his name sent chills down Harry's back and he shifted his weight, suddenly very uncomfortable. Malfoy returned to his normal position between Harry's shoulder blades.

"Close enough," Draco said. "Not quite as amusing or rolling-feeling, but it'll work. Some kind of human-speak for discomfort. _What do you know about my father?_"

Harry was NOT prepared for a direct attack. Draco had always been the more subtle type, but he had lied to Draco twice in a row now, and by Draco's close positioning, he knew trying it again would be a very bad idea indeed. He took a deep breath. "He's-gone-missing-and-Voldemort's-angry-because-he-doesn't-know-exactly-where-he-went. He-was-sent-on-a-mission-but-hasn't-contacted-him-yet." Harry spat out, speaking as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, Draco was trained in all kinds of avoidance methods, and Harry was forced to do Draco's squirming-wince thing while Draco sorted it all out in his head. It didn't actually take that long, to Harry's consternation of Draco's skills.

"Father's gone missing." Draco said slowly, laying out all the facts for confirmation. "because the Dark Lord doesn't know where he is. Despite the fact that the Dark Lord sent him on this mission himself. Does this mean that he is assumed safe?"

"Alive, yes," Harry answered quietly. "But what does your father have to do with the Room of Requirement? You mentioned him earlier."

"Oh," Draco answered vaguely, still seeming to be processing. "Just that if there was a hostile force, he definitely should have informed me. But that's explained now. How do you get this information?" Draco hissed, suddenly turning grey eyes on Harry's ears sharply.

"Voldemort," Harry replied briefly, and cut in on Draco' next question. "And that's all you're going to get. Figure it out yourself. Now, where are we going, what are our goals, and how do you expect to get by this hostile force? How do you know it's a hostile force?"

Draco did not appear appeased by the barrage of questions, but thankfully dropped the topic. "Goals?" Draco said, looking towards the door that was now just forest. "To get out, of course. Hostile force—well, it's certainly not friendly! You don't think we'll be able to help ourselves at ALL in here? If any intelligent student waltzed into the Room at this time, there'd be an array of spellbooks, potions, and solutions available. The Forbidden Forest has always been just plain danger. Avoiding the force? That shouldn't actually be too difficult, as they're probably hiding out right now. Do you have any idea the amount of concentration it'd take to hold this gigantic illusion over hundreds of student pleas and requirements for help? Despite the fact that this place exists, and is thus at least easier-manageable. No, the problem is that we're going to need to FIND them. So that we can dispel this. As to where we're going… fairly self-explanatory. We need to find the thing, probably in the form of an animal if they didn't manage to dispel Hogwarts' current animagus curse. Even if they did, it'd be a good cover," Draco finished thoughtfully.

"Great." Harry groaned. "So we need to find this hidden thing with a humongous brain that's probably hiding out somewhere in the whole Forbidden Forest and stop it."

"And calm the students down if possible and rescue a few along the way," Draco added, mind churning as always.

"Of course," Harry sighed, and then they were padding along silently, blessing the natural darkness of the Forest.

…

"You noticing how it's actually somewhat natural to be animals?" Harry added curiously a while later, after, as Draco had commanded, rescuing two pairs of monkeys, five bird pairs, and a crocodile and its partner the iguana. Most students were doing quite well though, at least danger-wise, because they _were _in pairs and the buddy-system, despite common support, did have merit.

"Mm." Draco responded, non-committal. He had been quiet for a while, actually, and Harry wondered if all thinkers were this solitary. On one hand, they had all the Slytherins. On the other, Hermione…

"Like, when you yelled at me, um, yesterday, to 'get into the dominant stance,' I think it was, talking to the Slytherins, it wasn't that hard. I didn't even have to try—all you have to do is feel dominant and poof! you're in it."

"Worrying," Draco added. He didn't say anymore though, and Harry took that as permission to keep talking.

"I mean, I can't imagine what the purpose of this little venture is, turning us all into animals I mean, but if there were any enemies to enter the castle, they'd all turn into animals. That'd be good, 'cause most of them couldn't use magic, but they'd be just as powerful as their shapes are without any practice whatsoever. That's not good. I mean, you don't even have to research anything to know how to act! It's all instinctual!"

"I know," Draco replied, and Harry's ears turned at the tone. _Draco time. _"The research issue particularly is disturbing. There's almost nothing you could do brain-wise to grasp the advantage during an attack. This limits everyone remotely intelligent and gives a lot more power to the already-powerful. For example, my aunt Bellatrix can already do wandless magic. She's going to be one of the only ones who can cast curses, debilitating the Hogwarts side to a troubling amount. Everyone else is out of luck, magic-wise, which is the whole community. The only advantage I can see to all this is that everyone's gotten a lot more equal physically. So those of us who aren't very strong naturally—such as the bucketloads of Hogwarts students present—are equal to the skill and experience someone like Aunt Bellatrix has. Oh, and go rescue those two out of the sinking mud—they're drowning."

Harry did, and Draco secured their thanks with gusto before returning to his contemplative state. "You also brought up instinct." Draco paused, searching his mind for the correct way to say this. "And since magic is mostly out of the question, with the possibility of diminished or augmented magic with no pattern disconcernable, that just leaves animal fighting and instinct. Despite the fact that we've got brains, our strength lies in animals. Thus, if there is any sort of battle, everything lies in the power of nature. Survival of the fittest. To the most basic level of humanity, this means war."

There was a rather awkward pause, at least for Harry. Draco just looked curious.

"So, Harry, how exactly are you planning to destroy the Dark Lord?"

_Very good question. _"Uh, no magical power, no physical power, um… emotional power?"

"You're going to destroy the greatest dark wizard of our time with emotions."

Harry paused again. And paused. And paused. "Hey Malfoy. Isn't the landscape changing?"

…

The landscape _was_ changing, though it took some debate on the part of Harry to convince Draco of it. Draco was too busy trying to get back to how Harry planned to be the Savior of the Wizarding World to actively listen to "such idle chatter", and eventually Harry had to wonder how they had gotten on the topic in the first place. That brought him back to the idea that he himself had thought they'd be attacked. Harry groaned. He hated living in a time of war, and it seemed like all the expectations were finally subconsciously getting to him.

"Draco! Why were we heading this way in the first place?" Harry tried, hoping that maybe Draco could be a normal person for once and forget what the original idea was if he was distracted. Well, distracted several times. But he was a Malfoy, so maybe… Harry tried his hardest to conceal his hopeful look.

_YES! _Harry cried internally as Draco stopped trying to subtly maneuver him (Harry had been chanting 'rock, rock, rock, rock' in his mind to stabilize, and it had worked; driving Draco to even greater roundabouts) and his thinking look came over him again. _God, this is bad, _Harry thought with the portion of his brain that was not concerned about survival. _I doubt I should be going for his normal voice and/or thinking face. On a snake. I'm screwed… but at least V's here for distracting trauma. Come on, Voldemort, gimme a vision or something! _The other, main part of Harry's brain was calling him mental.

"Actually, I don't know." Harry's errant part briefly went on a trip acknowledging the glory of having Draco actually talk to him about whatever came to mind, including I-don't-knows, which had never existed before yesterday, "But," and then Harry's main mind was back in control again, "it kind of felt like instincts, actually. Like when I boarded you. Odd."

"Odd indeed, but this is starting to hurt my pads. We're almost completely out of the Forest now, if you hadn't noticed. Black wolves don't do desert landscapes."

"Of course I noticed." Draco admonished, and then seemed briefly at loss for words. "But… I don't know. I feel better here than I have anywhere so far in this shape. Look at all the rocks—this isn't entirely desert, and the temperature's cooler. But so many hiding places—and that yearning is somewhat alarming."

Harry thought about it for a bit. Malfoy had led them there on a whim, which was extremely surprising in itself. Going back to his earlier phrase, "like when I boarded you," Harry was starting to get concerned with the amount of non-backed-up-by-intelligence decisions Draco seemed to make, as that was much more his realm. _We can't have TWO of us making uniformed decisions! Shoot. _But Harry couldn't think of anything to do about this besides yelling at Draco to "THINK, YOU SLYTHERIN, I NEED YOU TO PRE-THINK ALL YOUR DECISIONS TO BALANCE OUT ME!" and as much as he could deceive himself, Harry didn't think that'd go over very well.

So he turned back to the situation at hand, because his pads really were getting sand in them, tundra or not.

"Sounds like your natural habitat," Harry said off-handedly, the thought occurring to him as last of the thinning trees left them behind. "You know, the snake's."

Draco made a thinking sound, then an agreeing sound, which in this case was a fairly creepy scale-rubbing. Harry did wish Draco would stop weaving while around his torso, because it tingled, but again, decided not to mention it.

"That would make sense as to why we're here. But the accompanying question is why is _it_ here? I'd say the Forest is plenty dangerous enough and provides loads more hiding places than an open plain."

Harry shrugged. He didn't even know why he was asked these sort of question—Harry had no yearning to dive into questing theories unless he initiated them himself. Which was fairly rare, naturally.

"I didn't even know the Room could make two different environments at once," Harry offered. It _was_ strange. It looked strange too—there was maybe three Quidditch fields worth of blinding sun and rock formations on sand, and surrounding the circular area the Forest kind of blended in, rimming it. It reminded Harry of watercolors—yellow in the center, and the subtle coloration of dark green blending surrounding it. At this point, he and Draco were almost into the true yellow, or the desert landscape, but there were still marks of the Forest where they stood. A few green plants sprouted up here and there, wilting in the sun.

Draco didn't answer, but suddenly straightened, staring directly into the Room's sun and uncoiling himself from Harry's stomach so he could see better. Harry didn't even try—the purple-blue reflecting off Draco's scales was glaring enough for him.

"Is that an owl? It looks like Dumbledore! To the right of that thumb-sticking up red thing—doesn't that look like him?"

Harry peered despite himself. "Sorta," he said cautiously. There was certainly _something_ swooping around the area at which Draco was gesturing, but as it was white there wasn't really much he could pick out for details. "I'll get closer."

They'd only gotten about ten steps closer before Harry suddenly slammed into an invisible barrier. He rocked backwards, startled, while Draco hissed above him. "I _knew_ something was wrong," Harry heard murmured, and once he could see again he stepped forward slowly and tapped at the wall. After further investigation, it was found to be a dome.

"Draco--" Harry started, after they'd be wandering around the barrier for a few minutes and still hadn't come upon anything, "I--"

"I knew it." Draco interrupted him, but the quiet seriousness of the tone alerted Harry immediately. "Go around right about 200 meters, and look."

Harry did as he was told without complaint. Something was wrong—now that Draco had pointed it out, he could feel it. _Wronger than being transformed into a black wolf with Draco Malfoy on my back, stuck in the Forbidden Forest slash desert stopped by an invisible barrier. This has got to be pretty wrong._ He saw soon after he'd begun heading to where Draco had directed him.

The animal was totally off; Harry could see that immediately by looking at the scene captured inside the misplaced desert. The brown spot lying struggling on the ground was only about twenty feet away by Draco's positioning, and if they squinted they could see the details. A stag, brought down and bucking under poison, lying on the sand with black rocks stabbing through its pelt. Green eyes stared blindly through its struggle, begging the world to help, and Harry pushed hard against the barrier only to be shoved back. Staggering, a voice close to his ear whispered "Leave it, Harry. The stag's not the worst." And Harry resisted turning away, not wanting to see what could possibly be worse than a his father's stag, helpless, and practically under Crucio.

Suddenly, a black line reared up, weaving in the way that Harry had come to know well. Blue-violet glinted off familiar scales, and Harry spun, attempting to stare down the snake he knew was on his back. "Draco!" he demanded. "Here," he was answered. Harry sagged briefly in relief, but then something else caught his attention in the scene playing out before him. The owl, _it has to be Dumbledore!_ was diving, driving straight towards the snake, magic beginning to glow around it, and the snake was rearing up again, but its tail was snaking beneath the tortured body it stood over. _Draco! _Harry wanted to cry. _We have to do something! _but by the bruising tightness wrapped around his stomach, Harry knew they could do nothing.

"You see the eyes?" Draco murmured in his ear. "On the snake that looks like me. They're blue—and the body's slightly longer than mine. Those are the physical characteristics that belong to that specific person," Draco breathed. _Retreat into complex descriptions!_ Harry practically heard emanating from Draco. _Stay in control!_

"Who is it?" Harry asked, just as quietly, horrified by the snake's next action, which was to squirm beneath the stag. "Who are they?"

"Someone very similar to me. And someone very intelligent, cunning, and cruel. You're bait, you see that?"

Harry didn't answer.

"You're the stag, and Dumbledore's come to save you from me. Or someone like me. Harry, listen, we're in danger. We need to get out of here, make a safe place in the Room."

But Harry still wasn't answering, scanning the nearby area for anything recognizable.

"Harry!" Draco demanded, and his voice echoed slightly in the impenetrable silence.

Harry stopped circling, nudged Draco's head forward, made easier by Draco's attempts to do so already, and looked him straight in snake-slit grey eyes. "We're going to destroy the dome, Draco." He said, and the way he said it left no part of Draco's mind doubting it. "That's our new goal. There's four of them holding it together, and we're going to save Hogwarts."

"Them?" Draco asked, looking at Harry like he always had, with suspicion and scorn. If Harry was hurt, he didn't show it.

"The brains," Harry stated flatly, eye contact never wavering. "The brains whos positionings are shown by the four rock figures in your tundra arena. Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Gryffindor."

And there they were. A soaring eagle in red-colored rock, and a 10-foot tall serpent embedded in another. Draco turned, looking from the lion in front of them to where Harry was facing behind him, where the sand ended and the forest began. And there, pulsing gently, was a brain.

Draco gasped. Harry's face set in determination. And since Harry was the one who was always walking them around anyway, Draco could do nothing but watch as they headed straight to the brain from the first House of four.


	8. Oh Dear

_No bloody way. I am not being BRAVE and or NOBLE. _

Draco's mind was currently on overdrive trying to analyze the situation and figure out what he was supposed to do. This steady, cautious walking towards a pulsing brain screamed against all his precautions, and heading straight into danger was not what he had had in mind at any point during this venture. Slytherins were runners—Harry knew that! They hid when they needed to, and emerged when they could gain the most. _WE ARE NOT GOING TO DESTROY A SODDING BRAIN!_

But they were and Draco could only shrink against Harry's back as they neared. Harry felt it—and they both knew that they were in Harry's realm now.

"Okay." Harry said, standing about three feet away and looking down into the slight crater where the gray thing pulsed. It was quite ugly, with red veins jutting out all over the place and pumping unnervingly. "This is a brain. Obviously."

"Obviously." Draco echoed, and Harry did not gain any confidence by the lack of sarcasm it contained.

"So, how do you destroy a brain? Would it have any powers that we'd know about?"

Harry frowned at his own question. He was getting progressively more cautious as time went on spent with Draco. And progressively more dependant as well. Draco didn't answer though, so Harry was quickly launched into the traditional self-reliance he had always known.

"Screw this. I need a spell. CONFRINGO!"

The resulting 10 foot back fling was not unexpectedly, nor the bouncing off of the dome after being flung, but it was very painful. Draco was finally screeched into being at least semi-conscious, by the sound of it, and Harry found himself surprisingly grateful that he was being spoken to again. Scared Draco was almost as creepy as concerned-angry Draco.

"POTTER! You don't just SEND spells like that! And not without a wand either! You almost CRUSHED me!" The purple line was weaving before him again, though taking glancing looks at the smoking hole he had produced. Harry was looking behind Draco at the dome, and saw to his horror that they had not been the only ones disturbed by his spell.

"ON, DRACO!" he roared, and as the snake obeyed without question Harry went streaming off into the woods, making a trail close enough that Draco would be able to see inside the crater if he looked. Harry very much hoped he would.

"God, Harry," Draco breathed later, when they were a few hundred feet away from the dome and invisible once again from the barren desert landscape. "This feels so unnatural. Being bounced around on a wolf's back, being a snake, destroying brains like a moron but good person—it's exhausting."

"And you didn't even do anything," Harry said distantly. "What happened to the brain?"

"I was supposed to be looking?" Draco asked innocently, but focused at the menacing look Harry gave him. "Sorry. You always get so dark when you're like this. It was destroyed."

"Odd about the brain. It usually takes more than that to destroy something. And as for darkness? It goes with having your destiny to fight the darkest wizard of all kind," Harry replied, and Draco shuddered at both the implications and the bitter hatred of Harry's voice. "You should know, with your father a Deatheater."

And Draco was suddenly struck silent, a thought occurring to him and the pieces clicking into place almost faster than he could keep track of it. "Oh," he breathed. "Oh. _Oh._ "

"_What?_" Harry growled angrily, disgusted with what he was slowly realizing had been developing into a genuine friendship. "I need _answers_, Malfoy." Remembering a time when he had said the question and the fate of the world did not hang in balance as it always did with him.

"So you do," he was answered back distantly, and Harry howled with frustration. Draco was not going to give him _anything. WHY DOES NO ONE TRUST ME WITH WHAT I NEED TO KNOW?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE _DIFFERENT_, DRACO!_

And Harry went streaming off into the forest, in the general direction of the Ravenclaw's brain, leaving Draco, stupefied, behind him.

…

_AHHHHH!! HARRY JUST LEFT! WHAT THE SWEAR WORD, SWEAR WORD DID I DO? And how to I get back? STOP FREAKING OUT, DRACO!_

After the calming ritual yet again, Draco was calm. _Influence of Harry, _he noted calculatingly. _The ability to not panic in the direst of situations. Though maybe get extremely, extremely angry. I need to get to Potter. He cannot do this on his own. _

Draco frowned, knowing he needed to reason this out, and knowing he did not have the time. _Harry's going to the brains. And I lot faster than I am. But if he encounters any kind of obstacle, he's going to be slowed down—_Draco fought back the surge of worry that shot up within him—_and either way he'll get to the Slytherin rock. Lucky that's closest. I'll wait for him there. _Draco nodded to himself, slithered slowly to where green met yellow. He peered cautiously at the dueling ground before him, within the dome, and saw that despite he and Harry's mad dash, the group of murdered and murderer were still "entertained". For a short while. _We're running out of time_, Draco thought, and for the first time in his life had the vaguest idea of what it was like to be Harry Potter.

…

_Of all the stupid things to do,_ Harry ragged himself_, running off without Malfoy was probably one of the stupidest. Where are the intelligent people in the world when you need them? _

After having run to the Ravenclaw crater and brain, attempted to destroy it with a Confringo and several other spells, and still not getting near the reaction he was hoping for, the best being a slight wisp of fire that wasn't even near the brain, Harry was getting frustrated. Which was quite odd, really, since he had been furious before and the fact that he was not succeeding was actually making him less angry, not more. _What kind of physiological issue is THIS?_ Harry asked himself, but as always, he had no answers.

_I need to get to Draco. He'll know what's going on. Now where would he be?_

And that was the golden question. Harry knew the members of the Golden Trio like the back of his hand—Hermione would be here, Ron would be here, he would be here. And yet he felt closer to Draco than even them, and he still had no idea where Draco would be. Draco just kept surprising him again and again. Would Draco be being what he called disgustingly loyal, and chasing after him? Or would he retreat to hiding, as Draco ought to have done as a Slytherin in the first place? Harry did not claim to know another's mind. He did not even claim to know his own mind. But Harry did like to know the outlying motivations behind another's decision, and by Draco's previous reactions Draco had discovered something important—_that he wasn't sharing­_—and was thus probably acting upon it if it was to his advantage. And if he wasn't telling Harry about it, it was to his advantage.

Harry took off in the direction from which he had come, scurrying madly through the forest and hoping he didn't run into anything more dangerous than a resisting brain on the way.

…

Harry found their separation spot—_and how odd that sounds­­—_soon after. It hadn't taken him long to arrive at the Ravenclaw brain—the dome wasn't that big—and after that it was only a matter of following Draco's long weavings in the sand and dirt. Which were quite surprising, really, and Harry was astounded when he finally arrived to see Draco launching jet of light after jet of light at the Slytherin brain.

"Draco?" he inquired incredulously. _Draco was HELPING him destroy the brains?_

"No," Draco answered sarcastically, and Harry could hear the exhaustion in his voice. "Some other snake that looks exactly like me, such as the one that is enclosed in that dome. Pay attention to who you're talking to, Potter! If the snake in there was in my place, you'd be dead by now!"

Piercing gray eyes met his, and Harry's rising anger was shot down by the furious concern in them. Draco broke eye contact quickly though, simmering at the hollow in front of him.

"I don't have enough power," he admitted with self-loathing. "You do it, though you look tired enough. Why didn't you come from the other direction? We need all the brains destroyed by now, and this should be the last one!"

"I couldn't hit the Ravenclaw one," Harry answered back bitingly. "At least I returned. Confringo!"

Nothing happened and Harry was left glaring again. What was it about Draco, anyway? Missing him one moment and hating him the next. Harry started at the familiar feel of Draco in his pelt.

"And for that I am very grateful," he heard quietly in his ear, and Harry's eyes closed on their own accord. It might have been the first time in his life someone had thanked him for just coming back. Not coming back successfully with the job done, but just coming back.

"But we've got things to do." The voice said soothingly, and Harry was reminded once again why he was friends with Draco Malfoy. He straightened and his resolve seemed to steady once again. Harry listened attentively for any further comments, but upon not receiving any, instructed Draco himself.

"All right then. Together, on three."

Draco shifted subtly on his back, and Harry could feel the practiced gather of magic that he had not been near able to accomplish. He just kind of threw whatever he had access to out there, but Draco had poise. "Three."

The shockwave sent them back another ten feet, forest wise this time, and Draco and Harry were left grinning at each other, ghastly looking in their animal shapes but both knowing it was accomplished.

…

"UG! What is WITH this brain! Even working together the thing isn't smoking!"

"It's possible we're burned out." Draco suggested. "You seem to have exhausted yourself on the Ravenclaw one, and I'm not feeling so great myself, especially with the absence of magic I told you about earlier."

"Not it." Harry announced. "I'm getting fire. Look."

Draco did look, and saw the concentration on the wolf's face before he saw a plant near them burst into flame. "It's just not working on the brain. Why, Draco, why?"

Draco smiled briefly at the humorous repetition before sobering as the pieces of information he had received connected. "We need a Hufflepuff." He said bluntly, and felt Harry jolt underneath him at the obviousness of the statement.

"Of course."

Draco nodded, knowing Harry could feel it through the vibrations from the usual post on his back. "We saw a pair on the way here. Grab them and let's do this. Do you see your stag? I think it's dead by now."

Harry reluctantly pulled his head away from the brain and peered through the greenery to try and find the stag. It was indeed dead, its innards lying upon the sand and the snake weaving a complex design on the sand. Dumbledore lay fluttering weakly upon one of the rock formations, the snake glancing sinisterly at it from time to time. Harry's eyes widened and his stomach rolled.

"Oh, it's definitely dead," he said faintly, and fled in the opposite direction before he had a chance to throw up.

…

_Don't look don't look don't look don't look—_Draco could almost feel the chanting Harry was repeating in his head. His pace moved with it, his head bobbed with it, the careful eye contact showed it—must have been bad. But with his father it was always bad.

"I…" Draco began, feeling guilty about this whole business. The conclusion he had come to earlier, the horrible reason this whole venture had been begun and why they were animaguses in the first place—part of it was entirely his fault. He wished he had come up with it sooner, but was eternally grateful that Harry had not yet. The reasoning behind it was hopefully too Slytherin for Harry to understand—hopefully.

"What?" Harry spoke back, seeming to latch on to Draco's words as a form of salvation. _And it probably is, _Draco thought miserably. _I don't even want to see what my father's done this time, and as a snake, no less. _

"I…" _This is too hard. I am NOT going to tell him that my father is the snake in the dome. I am NOT going to tell him that this whole thing is an orchestrated plot and the only way out is through the Room's door which doesn't exist any more. I am NOT going to tell him this whole thing is utterly hopeless and we'll never live to see tomorrow. _

"I… never mind." Draco finished dejectedly, and slumped silent and defeated on the protesting Harry's back.

…

The Hufflepuffs that they had grabbed were all too serious once they'd seen the sight in the dome, Harry thought. _It was better when they were disgustingly frisky, and Draco wasn't slumped on my back like an empty husk. Where's the Draco I know? _

"Here," Harry said, though he knew the Hufflepuffs wouldn't be able to understand him. He indicated with his paw and the two brown birds settled, looking green. Not that Harry couldn't understand their trauma, but he was more concerned about Draco right now.

"Draco," Harry said, nudging the still body with the uncomfortable move he knew Draco liked. "Draco, you've got to get off of me and touch them."

At the listless response, Harry grew even more concerned. Draco would not be falling into a depression on his watch. "Draco!" Harry called more forcefully. Still very little except a weak twitch.

"Draco!" Harry roared again, now genuinely becoming angry. "What in the world is up with you? Is it your first time being noble? Are you scared of little Voldemort? Do you not trust me? Are you sickened by blood? What in the world is your issue, because I need you up and ready! I _cannot _deal with your moods right now!"

"It's not one of my MOODS!" Draco rose up dangerously, and beneath Harry's enraged exterior he sighed, relieved. "You have NO IDEA what's going on!"

"NO DUH!" Harry screeched back, throwing off Draco until he was facing him. That was a point Draco _did not touch_. "THAT'S BECAUSE NO ONE _TELLS ME!_"

"That's because you don't want to KNOW!"

"Oh, and you want to know more than I do?"

"As a matter of fact, I DON'T!"

"Then why don't you TELL me?"

"Because, because…" and Draco was left sputtering before him, but Harry just glared, cold and hard and cool as ice. He waited.

"Because I want to protect you," Draco finally said, and Harry realized how ridiculous this must be to the pair next to them; two black-as-night animals howling and hissing at each other when there was work to be done. When there was people to be saved. When there was better things to be doing than arguing with a friend who in his own way cared about him, no matter what the other said. And Harry himself hid information to not hurt Draco—it worked both ways.

"Thank you, Draco." He stated, and the snake lifted itself up from where it had been thrown off, looking hopeful. Harry nudged it gently with his nose, realizing that even the people who seemed the most unconcerned needed reassurance. "I appreciate it. Now, ready to get back to work?"

Draco snatched some ironic reply out of thin air and Harry grinned at him before facing the stunned looking Hufflepuffs. Directing Draco so that he was linking them all, Harry thrust power through the link, with Draco regulating the intense bursts and the two Hufflepuffs getting the milder support beneath their own spells. "Whenever," Harry tried to push through the link magically, and was surprised when it had effect and Draco looked at him in disbelief before blinking and turning to the Hufflepuffs. They cooed something at each other for one more second and then the group was getting thrown back yet again and smoke was spewing from another crater.

…

_He's noticed,_ was the first thought in Draco's mind as he discreetly peered around the groaning black lump that was Harry. Sore and bruised, he still felt better now than he had ten minutes ago, and once again directed a look of wonder at what possibly might be his best friend before staring out at the tundra landscape again. The multiple bursts of explosions were just too hard not to notice, not mentioning that his father must have planted the brains himself. Such living organisms would not just be created by the Room for a simple requirement; they required outside intervention.

"Harry," Draco hissed. "We need to destroy the Ravenclaws', now."

"WHY do we get thrown back _every single time_?" he was answered back, and Draco smirked despite himself.

"Because someone over here doesn't have the capabilities to make shields. But Harry, we've got to _go._ Dumbledore's going to be dead if we don't get into the desert within another five minutes."

"Wha?" Harry cursed, jumping up from his pile of leaves. "The snake's that close?"

"Yes, and he's got a nasty spell all over the ground. We need to go, _now!_"

"Yes sir!" Harry announced confusingly, but Draco jumped on his back nonetheless and they were loping across the terrain, still hidden but as close to the border as they could get, grabbing animals along the way.

…

"We're here." Harry announced, and that was the soonest he got before Draco had taken a flying leap off him, grabbed the pair of Ravenclaws by their hairy feet, and was connecting everyone by a weak grip around Harry's neck. "Quick, pulse them to calm down!" Draco yelled over the clamor of a snake suddenly appearing and chaining the pair and Harry shook his head, exasperated, before beginning the ritual. He at least attempted a shield this time, and was surprised when it worked and only the two Ravenclaws flew back.

"How come you didn't get hit?" He asked Draco, who was not affected by the shield or shockwave. "Don't tell me you're _that_ connected to me--"

"No time," Draco cut him off, staring wildly around him where the Room itself was gradually appearing and what had been their trap was gradually disappearing. And yet the sand that the intricate spell his dad had written on was fading into wood and not going away. The snake was concentrating fiercely, and with a final flick of his tail the Forbidden Forest and the desert disappeared, but more importantly something changed in Hogwarts's wards. Draco, becoming panicked but needing to inform Harry before the inevitable happened, yelled above the increasing clamor, "Dad's about to--"

"—Crap." Draco finished, and then they were all out of the Room of Requirement and in the hallways, hundreds of animals sprawled everywhere and on top of them, and Harry was writhing in pain because…

Draco squeezed his eyes shut.

…because Voldemort had entered the castle.

A/N—

Dun dun dun! This thing is getting rather more choppy. Anyway, reviews I say, reviews! I am getting fat from ego-feeding alerts, and need some old fashioned constructive criticism to slim me down to the proper writing size!


	9. This Means War

A/N--I'm sorry guys, but this is going to be confusing. Italics mean both thoughts and Parseltongue—watch the language carefully if you're confused.

--

_Ow ow ow owowowowowOOWOWOAHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHH--!_

The mindless screech of pain was something truly terrifying to witness, and Draco was withdrawing into his usually Potter-created calm as thoroughly as he could manage. _Calm. Calm. Help Potter. Help Harry. Voldemort is here—get it together!_

Seeing the world through gray eyes sheened with controlled terror, Draco bolted towards Harry, attempting to restrain the air flow and repeating the movements from so long ago. _Come on, Harry. We need you up. You need you up. I need you in general. We need to fight Voldemort, now come out of it, will you!_

It wasn't until a long time later that Draco would look back and see the picture he made, but he certainly noticed the effects of it right away. Unlike the previous episode of Voldemort-induced seizure, Harry was not waking up right away, and this time it was happening very publicly. First Draco noticed a subtle silence, which grew into a definitive growl—and when Draco looked up next, he saw he was surrounded by his fellow students, murderous gleams in their eyes.

"_GO AWAY!" _he hissed at them, but that only fueled their rage. Suddenly Draco realized what was going on as he saw the pairs of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws leading the pack. They had seen his father—and they thought he was killing Harry all over again. _Bloody hell,_ was Draco's last conscious thought, and then he was slithering for his life.

There was no one to help him. The only person whom he had ever in any way relied on was lying on his back in more pain than Draco had encountered in his whole lifetime, which was saying a lot, and the Slytherins were certainly not going to help him out. There was nothing in it for them. Draco screamed in his head for Harry, but knew that this time he would not be there. It was time to pull his own weight in this war, be his own person and make his own decisions. Friendship with Harry had taught him that.

Curling around a plate of armor, Draco took to the air, leaping from one dented, rusted soldier to another. Safer in the air, where he had more agility than the birds and didn't need the speed of racing from on the ground. Blending into the background, retreating to the days when his father had set him to this, made him fly outside when it was wet and rainy and the panther he had released to chase him had not been fed in weeks. His father had planned for the event; sat in a chair, watching indifferently as Draco raced through a forest cleared of all wildlife so that he was the only pray left. Draco had learned to hide and dodge, to fly and climb, to be faster, ever faster, if he wanted to stay alive. It hadn't been his first test of life and death, then, but it had been the longest.

_And there_, Draco thought, seeing in his mind's eye an army spreading out beneath him armed and ready with wandless magic. He heard them around the corner, Voldemort's army, ready to demolish the crazed swarm chasing him—Draco stopped suddenly. No, this was not the way. He turned abruptly; skidded backward from the beam of wood he was suspended on and flew backwards with even more speed than he had flown forwards. To win this war, for _Harry _to win this war, he needed all the help he could get.

It was a turning point for Draco, but he hardly noticed. What with the wind whipping against slitted eyes and the predators beneath and around him not even attempting to be silent so as to not be heard, Draco was worried enough about someone else's health not to be disturbed about his own. It _was_ a turning point—but he'd been in the dark-gray shade for a while now, and a few degrees lighter to help out a best friend didn't really seem to make all that much difference.

Draco left them with Harry, all those students ready to kill him to protect their hero instead of helping Harry themselves, and he slid away quietly through their ranks until he was gliding as fast as he could throw himself to his destination. _Good thing my palms can't sweat and he can't read an animal's mind, _he thought distantly, and then he was swerving through the restless ranks, stationed demurely at Lord Voldemort's feet.

_Master._ Draco hissed, calm and sure, having being taught thousands of times. His father could be a dark lord in his own right.

_Lucius? _The sneer came back ruthlessly, and Draco anticipated the coils suddenly wrapped around him and thus didn't respond to Nagini.

_Yes. May I beg your apologies for not contacting you sooner. _

_You may not. _The coils wrapped tighter and Draco retreated to his Harry-space.

_Yes, Master. _

Time stood still for a moment, in which Voldemort silently regarded with red eyes and Draco held his breath. But it passed, and the sigh of relief Draco would have released had he been a normal child was exhaled slowly and methodically.

_What news do you have for me? I sensed the dropping of Hogwarts' wards and came. What of Dumbledore? _

_Dead, Master. _Draco stated, his eyes carefully lowered. He didn't know. Who knew what happened to Dumbledore, a feeble white owl devoured by anything, wandless magic or not.

_His animagus shape was feeble. That is why I chose this method to infiltrate Hogwarts. I have been loyal, Master. _

_Hm. _Draco heard the edge of scorn and his pity grew for his father still more. _We shall see. Why are you in your animagus shape?_

_Usefulness, Master. I am connected to all of the students at Hogwarts—should I release the animagus spell, they would all become human, and should I not, they will stay animagus. I leave it to your choice to decide how to annihilate the students if you so choose. _Draco was amazed at the brilliance of the scheme as it occurred to him. The words flowed as he thought them, and this truly was an almost impeccable scheme of his father's.

_Ah. _Draco looked up briefly, into narrowed eyes. He shivered slightly—this was not the response he expected. The silence drew on.

_Stay animagus. _The Dark Lord finally said, and Draco flicked his tongue out.

_But call your son. _

…

"DRACO!" Harry screamed, awakening with a start to a circle of concerned eyes and frequent glances at something out of his sight. Eyes sharpening, he jumped to his feet just wavering slightly, and looked past the circle of encirclers who were not letting him through. Growling dangerously, he approached the scene—where Draco was attempting to kill a ravaged and dead-looking Dumbledore. Rage, betrayal, but ultimately confusion filled his entire being, and adding Parseltongue to his speech he came between the group holding Draco back and the group of students sheltering Dumbledore. Turning directly towards Draco, he glared at him with all his power and spat out his name, only to be met with burning blue eyes.

Harry stumbled back as if struck, and animals on either side watched anxiously as he blinked. _Not Draco. Lucius. _Harry looked down the black, writhing and barely-held body, saw it was longer, less black, more sheen to it. Looking back into those eyes, he saw Lucius's fatal flaw—an unrestrained urge to kill. _Lucius_. Harry's mind supplied, and his eyes narrowed with newfound hatred.

But now was not the time to be hasty. He had his Draco to thank for that, who was nowhere to be seen. _What could I use from this situation? Voldemort is here, I can feel him. Who are my allies? The Hogwarts students, and they all think Lucius is Draco. But I'll be losing most of the Slytherins to his side, and they know our situation… ah. Be strong, Draco, wherever you are, because I'm thinking like you and so you'd better save yourself and think like me. We can do this._

_Draco,_ Harry hissed again to all the Slytherins in the hallway, for good measure. He'd be playing two sides now, and had to act according to both.

_Draco, _Harry hissed in Parseltongue_, that is not your job to do. It is mine, and I intend to kill Dumbledore myself, as Lucius Malfoy. Stop struggling. They will not release you, and the old man is almost dead anyway. One strike will do it, and then we can both retreat to Voldemort's army. _

And now came the complicated part, Harry thought, as he leapt forward, grasping Lucius in his jaws and coming down an inch from the owl's face. The knowing eyes looked back at him, and even now Harry was unnerved by how much Dumbledore seemed to know. For a second he lapsed back into the thought that all he had to do was sit back and let Dumbledore save him, and then Harry's eyes swept down the small, battered body. His eyes hardened—Dumbledore could not save him now. Nodding his head once, Harry scooped up the owl in his paw, and Dumbledore went limp as if he had been hit. _Side one, _Harry thought calculatingly,_ think I just killed Dumbledore. Lucius Malfoy, the wolf that Draco appeared on just two days ago, was in disguise as an animagus, and just saved his son and killed Dumbledore. Thus, I am perfectly loyal on the rebel Slytherin side. I hope I played Draco's father well, as I've only got Draco's reactions to go on—_Harry pushed back the part shiver, part self-questioning shifting—_but so far all is well. _

_Side two. Rest of the school. I am Harry Potter, black wolf who just grabbed Draco, to do who knows what with him but be a hero, and accidentally injured Dumbledore when I was saving him. Dumbledore chose the right choice; the Slytherins needed the most convincing. Good. I now have the whole school with me, except those Slytherins that aren't snakes… but they probably aren't loyal to Voldemort. Whole school then, perfect. Draco, where are you? _

And then he heard a voice, so quiet in the back of his self-conscious that he hadn't realized he'd heard it before. So quiet, so there—it had been a part of him since day one of his life, when he'd rejected Draco's hand and felt Draco's magic swirl angrily around him. That had always drawn him to Draco. That had always made the both of them meet again and again, when they could have avoided each pointless confrontation. _Here,_ it said.

_Draco? _Harry asked incredulously, but as much as he waited, frozen, he didn't get a response. _React, _he told himself firmly, and looking around he took slow steps forward, seeming to the allies surrounding him to be approaching some point very meaningfully. The expectant silence wouldn't last long though. _Draco!_

_Bring…Lucius. _It was faint, so faint, and veiled in so many emotions he was amazed he had even heard Draco's quiet voice in his head in the first place. The emotions kept them apart—it was only when they were tightly controlled when they could hear each other. And Harry had never been Slytherin enough to be so, especially surrounded by friends and Ron and Hermione. _Coming. _He sent back.

_Come, _Harry said out loud, attempting to make it as heroically wolfish as possible while still speaking the dangerous-sounding Parseltongue. He had not the vaguest clue how it was coming out, but he was getting reactions from both sides so it couldn't be that off. _We must return to our Master, _Harry added.

_Ookay_, Harry thought, the weirdness just beginning to sink in. _If this is not the weirdest situation I've ever been in. Draco talking in my head, Slytherins following me being Lucius, everyone else following me because I'm Harry Potter, Dumbledore barely alive in my hand—_

And that was what really brought Harry to the present. The body of Albus Dumbledore was still in his paw, but the eyes were glazed over, beak curved in a smile just for Harry when he noticed his life had gone. Harry froze. And then he roared.

"_VOLDEMORT!"_

…

The mad scrabble distantly tearing towards them was not at all what Draco had had in mind when he was focusing on any way possible to call his father. However, it was silenced two hallways down, and the snake emerged into his view looking regal and haughty, so Draco was very much not going to complain, despite the oddness of the approach. He could tell Voldemort was darkly interested in the noises as well, and made quick work to distract him.

_My father. _

Voldemort turned sharply to look at him, and Draco, horrified, realized his mistake.

_Like father like son, two generations in. I see my father so clearly in that boy. _Draco added, focusing completely, drawing himself into his father's mind. He had done so many times before. The lapse in concentration was nothing. He was _Lucius._

_Your father was disloyal. What are you suggesting, Lucius?_ Draco felt the thrillings of fear even within his father's shell. He would have to be excellent.

_Suggesting the immense power required to be disloyal to you, Master. _

_It is easy to be loyal to me? _

_Of course, Master. What is difficult is how we can serve you properly. _

A sharp bark of laughter, and Draco was free. His eyes closed without his consent, and he was eternally grateful he was not looking at anyone just then. _Thank you, Father. Thank you, Draco. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. _

_Draco, Master. _Draco presented, as soon as Lucius was close enough.

_Ah. _

"Draco."

Lucius looked up questioningly, and opened his mouth to say something. And Draco was lost again. What could he do now? What should he do? Where was Harry when he needed him—but Draco's thoughts were broken by the next words that exited Voldemort's mouth.

"_Avada Kedavra._"

…

"NO!" Draco cried, flying away from his position at Voldemort's feet to grovel at his neck. _Grovel, yeah right. Voldemort just killed my father!_ Fangs bit sharply into flesh before either of them could even check their thoughts. And when clarity returned, Draco was almost stunned into oblivion.

_AHHH! _Draco screeched, dodging frantically. This was so much like the first time, none of the controlled effort he had used up to this point. This was the time when the vine had snagged his wand, and he was wandlessly facing the chimera. This was ultimate panic. _AHHHHHH!_

But right now he didn't need calm, so Draco gave into the terrified preservation of life than no human should even have to face. He leapt this way, spun that way, avoided jets of light and hands far too big to catch a snake, all the while feeling a slowly settling sense of power. _What kind of power? Why am I feeling—_AH! Jump, turn, spin again, and there he had it—_there's the power. Can I use it right now? Crap, it's already in use! AHHH!_

Harry, two halls down, was alert of the cacophony of sound almost as soon as it began. Turning to the terrified pairs all before him, still all present in his balance of power, Harry issued commands first to the majority of the Slytherins;

_You are commanded to follow Draco! Voldemort has instructed me to do so, and you are to become his allegiance! Never waver from whatever Draco tells you to do! _Harry prayed this was a good decision, to trust in Draco, but as Draco had told him long ago now was certainly not the time to stop. And Draco had done nothing to betray his trust except disappear—but Harry trusted the chaos before him was not caused on its own.

"Everyone else!" Harry directed in wolf-voice, quickly understanding he could not be understood. Grabbing a pair of monkeys by both arms, he mimed he himself having a wand—and them discreetly taking it. Guerilla pairings—steal all the wands!

It took numerous tries for all the students to get it, but between the somewhat common cross-species eventually everyone understood what was going on, and by that time Harry had already sent duos out. Steal all the wands! Get rid of their magic! Animals are harder to hit and have all the natural advantages—the only things humans have is intelligence.

Draco barely twitched when he suddenly had a ring of protective and highly concerned Slytherins around him. _I love you, Harry, _he praised fervently, and more than at any point in his life, he meant it.

…

The pile of polished wood besides Harry was growing by the second, and he was literally guarding it with his life. A few of the bigger animals stood by him, stomping on anyone chasing a pet-creature with a wand in their mouth, and overall the system was working quite well. Bless a Lord for Draco's elephants.

"That'ssss all of them," Harry heard, when he had bit back a particularly stubborn wizard. Looking down, Harry saw a small, red snake, automatically morphing it into a graceful ribbon of black in his mind's eye. Shaking his head slightly, Harry sent it off and instructed several of the elephants to keep on guarding. Draco had been right about that too—communication was everything.

"Guard the wands!" he called out to everyone who could understand him, and as he was the only wolf snakes quickly transferred the message. War was full on waging, with the more powerful wizards using wandless magic to blast animals out of the way, but as the hallway was narrow the Hogwarts' students numbers were larger. Harry nodded grimly at the group, then faced the wall of wizards and giants and vampires and werewolves before him. He could be like a Slytherin and go around the back way, but in this situation he was a hero, and heroes always shoved through the front.

_I'm coming, Draco_, he whispered to himself, and then he was fighting through the crowd to get to Voldemort and the teen he probably loved.

A/N—

I just love my cliffhangers, don't I? Well, we're almost done. A shorter chapter here, and an even shorter chapter coming up, bringing an end to this delightfully LONG-lasting story. Enjoy!


	10. The Final Battle

_Harry!_ Draco cried internally, seeing the wolf finally emerge from the tunnel of what was most likely death. _Oh, thank you._ Driving towards him, Draco saw the way Harry was headed and froze. _Of course. Voldemort. It's always Voldemort_. But instead of backing away, Draco just changed course, heading towards the evil of the wizarding world who had enslaved his father for decades.

_Draco._ Harry sighed happily, but soon had his attention turned elsewhere. He had a small band of Gryffindors fighting for him, and appreciatively barked at Ron and Hermione somewhere in the pack, but it was still very hard going. He figured that because no one knew he was Harry Potter, killing the random black wolf was not a problem for most of the gathering there. At least he _looked_ evil, so only a few were targeting him.

Voldemort soon appeared before him, regarding the battle with angry annoyance. Harry's features blanked easily, blocking the pain that was now reaching nausea-inducing heights. He continued on nonetheless, hardly noticing as his protective circle dropped off one after another. Only Voldemort existed for him—a habit formed when Harry was just a baby.

But all of a sudden it wasn't just Voldemort anymore, because just as Voldemort flicked his fingers to disapparate, the familiar black snake entered his view. And evidently Voldemort's too, for the casual snap of fingers was replaced by a sinister smirk rivaling Draco at his best. Voldemort shifted slightly, and a bite mark flaring red and blue was exposed to the surrounding crowd. Harry's eyes widened as Voldemort suddenly pointed a desiccated hand at the snake watching Harry instead of the death awaiting it. _It's not supposed to be like this. IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THIS!_

And all of a sudden Harry wasn't standing watching the horrible death before Draco, he was next to him, shoving the snake into his fur and fleeing for his life. But he could not flee now—he was physically blocked, rings upon rings upon rings of the enemies stopped in battle, sneering deliciously at the black flash and stepping closer and closer and closer. Only the edges were fighting now, and Harry soon realized that besides Draco gripping unmercifully, he was all alone. All alone to fight what he had been told to fight from birth. The creature who had killed so many, the creature so many depended on him to kill. It made him sick for a moment, and then Draco was whispering in his ear, distracting and filling him with a strength they both possessed.

"I can make you human, if you want."

And that was what Harry got. Everything they had gone through, all the sacrifices they had made, the devotion caused of one freak incident of following one's instincts, that's what it all came down to. _I can make you human, if you want._ Harry had already been made human. He'd been made human long ago, when Draco had first offered his hand and offered the first stirrings of strong emotion, guilt with a touch of fear and awe and disgust, he had ever felt in his young life. And now, with Draco's instinctual desire to choose Harry as his partner, he had been made more than human, for no human could feel what he felt for the person on top of him.

"Don't," Harry said. "You wouldn't be able to escape." And the _You already have _hung between them, understood and accepted.

"Of course." Draco replied, and suddenly everything was right with the world and that gave Harry the strength to face Voldemort without a wand, without Dumbledore, but with the support that was Draco and emotional and the unexpected physical advantage.

_Lucius, what is the _matter_ with you?_ were the first words out of Voldemort's mouth, and Draco and Harry almost grinned at the irony of the statement. Both one mind, both same ideas, combined and strong together. And Lucius, the key that united them.

_I am here. _Harry interrupted.

_You?_ Voldemort stated disdainfully. _You? You are Lucius's vessel. _

Irony again, Harry thought. _Can't you feel the burning, Voldemort? _

_Lord,_ Voldemort corrected, but his eyes narrowed. _Potter. _

_About time. _Harry agreed. _I will fight you. _

You _will fight _me? _I am most amused. _But Voldemort's heart wasn't in it, and Harry tensed, knowing the moment was passing. Voldemort was puzzling Draco's presence out, and if Harry didn't react now one of them was going to get hurt. He took a step forward, again calculating the leap. But it was too late.

_Ah. Ddrraccccooo… _Voldemort purred, and it sent goosebumps down both of their spines. _How nice of you to join us. And to think, I killed your father! How foolish of me. Yet you are the gem, I believe. Fooling me takes a certain skill. _Voldemorts features suddenly hardened. _Kill Potter, Draco. Or you will suffer. Join me, and be rewarded—you still have your mother to think of. _

Draco stilled. He'd forgotten. His mother, of a lifetime ago, kind and gentle, soothing words… but then the image was replaced, of a doll of a figure, porcelain and just as hard. Following his father faithfully wherever he went. Executing people for another's pleasure. That hard hand pressing deep into his side. He felt Harry listening for him, listening for the vibrations they communicated by, and sent a slight squeeze down at the body underneath him. A muscle twitched in Harry's side, and then relaxed the merest centimeter.

It was enough. _So you're loyal then,_ Voldemort commented, seemingly unconcerned. _Good then, I suppose. Bad, but good. Because that means Potter's loyal to you, and Potter can never have enough people to be loyal to. Accio!_

The sole non-stolen wand was flicked and Harry felt the hair on his back rise with a sharp tug. Voldemort was pulling his _fur _off? What in the world? _ANITETECOMMUNI! _ he screamed in his mind, the first spell that occurred to him.

"RAHHH!" Voldemort screeched, backing away and clutching at his head. "POTTER!"

"Good," Draco said above him. "More power. Take mine."

Harry closed his eyes briefly, trusting Draco to watch for him. Seeking Draco's power, he found it all through a thin straw in the back of his mind. Sucking from that straw, drawing it wider and wider until the straw was a tunnel, Harry pulled Draco's unresisting power from him—and added to his own, the magic pooling dizzyingly in his stomach. "On three," he heard faintly. "One, two, THREE!"

And the magic was thundering out of him, all aimed at the Dark Lord. _ANITETECOMMUNI! _Harry screeched, knowing that with their combined power it was possible, just, to overcome. _Focus on the love, _a voice in his mind reminded him, and Harry did. He focused like he had when he'd pulled Quirrel's flesh from his face, except a lot harder and a lot longer. He focused on Draco.

But suddenly the silence of concentration was broken, and everything went into the fast motion as Voldemort's wand was pointing at him and Draco was flying and the snake was up in the air, green light surrounding him, burning and screaming and it was taking longer than a second and things were happening and Harry had no idea what was going on. _Focus on the love,_ the voice said again, and Harry did, despite the fact that the one he loved was floating above him in a cloud the color of his eyes—and the last one who'd held the color of his eyes had died for him. But perhaps that was it; perhaps Lily and James could do something, perhaps the love would combine, or do something with Draco's spell...

Harry never knew exactly how it happened, but in later years he figured it was a combination of everything. Either way, Lily's sacrifice had activated and was protecting Draco, and Draco's sacrifice was activating and protecting Harry, and Harry's sacrifice was a spell and was aimed at Voldemort, and suddenly everything went dark and something black and twisted was being pulled out of him and Harry screamed. He screamed and screamed and Draco was screaming and everyone was screaming and the world was screaming, and the word _Horcruxes!_ flitted through his mind and he knew they were destroyed.

When Harry opened his eyes again Voldemort was gone. Ash floated where his feet had been, the army around him was decimated into dust, the naked people in the hallway were peering around cautiously and he was lying completely nude with Draco on top of him, both alive. His scar was pumping what felt like liquid happiness through him, and Harry finally understood what it was—the pain, the burning was gone. Years and years of burning had built up a tolerance, and through that tolerance even when it burned he had felt nothing, but now it finally felt just like normal skin and it was so, so wonderful. Harry laughed in delight, feeling the marred but soft skin beneath his fingertips, knowing its controller was gone forever.

"Harry," Draco whispered, and Harry turned his head slightly to see the face, to see the face that had represented so many years of hardship for him. But the face wasn't just Malfoy's face anymore, it was a snake's face, Draco's face, and those grey eyes were shining at him in a way they had never done before. Harry grinned, a sweet, carefree smile, and put his lips on Draco's. It was simply amazing, one amazing upon another amazing upon another amazing and his whole life was composed of one simple amazing, of joy and life and Draco.

"He's gone," Harry murmured, when their lips had separated. "He's gone, Draco, he's gone!"

Tears were coursing down Draco's cheeks, tears of happiness or sadness Harry didn't know, but he was with the person he loved and he was just happy that Draco was there with him. He widened the already stationed smile and plunged into Draco's mouth again in glorious contentment of the world. Draco responded back, and if anything in Harry's life hadn't been perfect, it was then.

"I love you," Draco murmured, and Harry knew then that everything was as close to perfect as it could get in Draco's world too.

"I know you do." Harry responded, and then they stood up, helping each other along the way. "I love you too."

And Draco knew.

…

Years later, Ron and Hermione took a trip to see the famous' couples house, down along a dirt road filled with ruts and turns with no one in the vicinity for miles. They looked at each other, shook their heads, but smiled and walked on. You couldn't apparate on Potter-Malfoy grounds—it was all manual transportation. Muggle cars didn't even work—the only way you could visit was to walk several miles. It kept out all but the closest friends, and of course the boarding school students that stayed with the two.

"Harry!" the couple heard, when they were close enough to see the screen door and the lighted house behind it. "Your friends have finally arrived!"

"Yours too," Harry bellowed back. "We've gone over this, Draco. OUR friends."

"Yes, yes, very well, our friends. Where's Natasha?"

"Out in the backyard somewhere. She'll come home eventually, you know that."

"But I like showing her to those two. They're funny."

"Indeed. Now stop gloating that you have a student that's shaped as a snake and go let them in."

Ron and Hermione looked at each other again, then back at the door. Draco opened it.

"At your service, Harry's-our-friends," he announced. Behind him, a black wolf appeared before swiftly returning to human form. Harry smiled at them and nonchalantly elbowed Draco, who glared. Smirking at the two of them, who were eyeing the animaguses carefully, he grinned a smile that was all for Harry. Opening the door wider, Draco made a grand gesture with his hand before flicking his tongue out and grandly announcing,

"The House of the Animagus is at yours."

…

A/N—Ha ha! Done! MUHGAHAHAIHAHH! DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE—okay, I think I've proven my point. I'm done. Anyway, that was very exciting. Hauntful is in fact so very thrilled she is done with this thing that she is going to give you all a very special treat—You're going to get five chappies published at once. Written at different times, of course, and I usually separate them by a few days to get feedback—but Hauntful's excited so you get rewarded for it. Comments are always welcome—grammar as well as plot, though of course the latter is the best! Thanks for reading! hauntful yay

PS- Oh, and Draco got control of the Animagus spell when his father died. That's the power he could feel building within him. Any other questions? I'd love to clarify!


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